But it wasn’t the defense that bothered Rivers.
It was that the Celtics killed themselves with mental mistakes.
“I didn’t think we played very smart tonight,’’ Rivers said, after seeing his team drop its third straight game on this six-game homestand. “There are so many little things that I could point out.’’
He could have pointed to Nate Robinson firing a 25-foot 3-pointer with 19 seconds left in the first quarter and the Celtics up, 30-29, rather than holding the ball for the final shot of the quarter. It gave the Rockets the ball, and led to Brooks making a layup, getting fouled, and converting the conventional 3-point play.
One mistake and the Celtics go from being up 1 to down 2 to start the second quarter.
Rivers could have pointed to several of Chase Budinger’s six 3-pointers, but particularly the one he drained with 2:02 left in overtime, when several Celtics broke prematurely to the offensive end.
“You don’t go back down until you secure the basketball,’’ Rivers said. “We played like a high school team at times, as far as the way our thought process was.’’
After losses to San Antonio and Oklahoma City, the Celtics seemed to rebound early against Houston, knocking down 12 of their first 15 shots, taking an 11-point lead 7 minutes into the first quarter. They dismantled a Rockets team that was missing key pieces, including Trevor Ariza (flu-like symptoms) and Shane Battier (sprained left knee).
But the Celtics gave it all back by the end of the quarter, letting the Rockets heat up from 3-point range. Brooks, who had 11 points in last month’s meeting, had 8 by the end of the first.
The Celtics got a 27-point night from Paul Pierce, but he didn’t score after the third quarter. He had a chance to end it in regulation, getting an isolation play on Chuck Hayes. He got to his sweet spot and pulled up for a jumper in the lane that fell short and failed to beat the buzzer.
