Stevens knows grounding Rockets starts on defense

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HOUSTON – When it comes to playing good defense, there’s plenty of data Celtics coach Brad Stevens can rely on to give him a feel for where his team stands.

A big part of being a good defensive team is being in the right place at the right time, which for a team with as much length defensively as the Celtics have, leaves them covering lots of real estate.

Boston will need that level of defense tonight against a Houston Rockets, who are riding a 14-game winning streak that has vaulted them to the top of the NBA standings.

Indeed, Stevens believes Boston’s defense at its best, has the look of being every were, all the time.

“We have a deceptiveness to us,” Stevens said. “We're long, we have our arms out, we're in a stance, we're quick to react...it's always kind of been when that shot goes up, do we have five guys engaged in the rebound and are our guards flying over the top to get them. You go back through some of our best possessions of the year, we are active, we're taking away the first option, we're taking away the second option with our effort and we fly in for rebounds. Easier said than done against a team like Houston the whole time because the first and second options are hard to take away."

Here are five other under-the-radar storylines from Saturday's showdown in Houston: 

AL HORFORD

TATUM COMES OF AGE

MARCUS MORRIS

DANIEL THEIS RETURNS

HAYWARD'S NOT COMING BACK THIS SEASON...THIS IS A RECORDING

NBC SPORTS BOSTON SCHEDULE

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