The Boston Celtics lost their fifth of six games after the NBA All-Star break Sunday with a 115-104 loss to the Houston Rockets at TD Garden.
Once again the C's dug themselves an early hole and made a strong second-half comeback before ultimately coming up a little short.
Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving played very well, leading Boston in points (24), rebounds (nine) and assists (six).
Rockets guard James Harden, who dropped a game-high 42 points in 39 minutes, praised Irving's performance after Houston's second win over the Celtics this season.
"Obviously, Kyrie brings a different identity to the game with his scoring ability," Harden told reporters. "Tonight, I think he had six or seven assists, something like that. He’s a very impactful player.”
Despite Irving's impressive stats, it would help the Celtics if he was even more aggressive offensively.
The superstar guard took just 11 shots Sunday. In fairness, he shot 64 percent from the floor and went 7-for-8 from the foul line, but against one of the league's highest scoring teams and the league's top scorer (Harden), you need your best player to take control and be aggressive offensively. Irving shot 3-for-5 from 3-point range -- the rest of the team went 5-for-23 (21.7 percent). Irving is averaging 18 shot attempts per game this season, and that number should be the minimum for him, especially against quality opponents like the Rockets.
Boston Celtics
Harden is right -- Irving certainly is a "very impactful player." That's why Irving needs to be a little more selfish on offense and use his incredible scoring talents to carry the Celtics out of this slump.
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