The Orlando game will settle a lot before this one tips. Mitchell Robinson was listed questionable for it with rest, and how Boston spreads minutes on Sunday will show who it plans to have fresh in Houston. A close game in Orlando that keeps the starters on the floor late makes Monday harder. An easy one lets Joe Mazzulla rest people early. Until that result is in, nobody should take the Celtics' form as settled.
Houston has its own injuries to work around. Fred VanVleet sat the Thunder game for right knee injury management on the second night of the Rockets' back-to-back, and Reed Sheppard missed his second straight game with low back soreness. Steven Adams is still out with a right soleus strain that Ime Udoka said could keep him out a week or two. The Rockets still won every quarter against OKC. An 18-4 run blew the game open, and the lead never got under 12 in the second half.
Alperen Sengun is the piece that changes the matchup. He came back from his back issue and put up 16 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists, and Jabari Smith Jr. scored 30. Kevin Durant needed only 14 on a night when the offense ran through the big man. With Adams out, Sengun gets most of the center minutes, so Boston's frontcourt will be dealing with him on tired legs.
Where Boston can win this is shooting. If Pritchard and the perimeter keep hitting the way they did on the homestand, the Celtics can stay with anyone for a half. What decides it is whether that holds up on the second night of a road back-to-back against a rested Houston team that has outscored opponents by double digits in most of its wins.
