Celtics escape with season’s biggest comeback win
The Boston Celtics pulled off the biggest comeback of the NBA season to clinch a dramatic 99-98 victory over the Houston Rockets yesterday morning (Singapore time).
Down by 26 points early in the third quarter, Boston never led until Al Horford scored with 3.7 seconds left, escaping with a win that sent the Houston to their fourth straight loss.
Two straight offensive fouls in the backcourt resulting from James Harden knocking down Marcus Smart as Houston tried to inbound the ball with no time-outs left turned the game in the closing seconds, reported Reuters.
Kyrie Irving paced the Celtics with 26 points. Harden, who led all scorers with 34 points but was only seven-of-27 from the floor, was fuming after the match.
One referee had hurt his back during his pre-match warm-up, leaving just two referees to officiate the game.
Harden was quoted as saying on ESPN: "Well, first of all, I'm wondering how do you have only two officials on a national TV game? That's the first question.
"A lot of grabbing, a lot of holding. I mean, how else am I supposed to get open? Gotta ask, with two arms wrapped around my whole body...
"But, like I said, it's just tough. You can't have two officials in a professional game. There are a lot of no-calls that need to be called, because that changes the dynamics of the game."
OTHER RESULTS
Orlando 102 Detroit 89, Milwaukee 102 Minnesota 96, San Antonio 119 NY Knicks 107, Portland 114 Philadelphia 110
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now