Houston brings a 14-game winning streak into Saturday night’s matchup with the Celtics in Texas.
BOSTON -- They took part in one of the best games of this NBA season, one that featured a stunning comeback and a wild finish.
The Celtics and the Houston Rockets put on quite a show for a national television audience on Dec. 28 at the TD Garden.
Trailing by 26 points in the first half, the Celtics overcame the Rockets, 99-98, by scoring four points in the final 7.3 seconds with Marcus Smart drawing two offensive fouls against James Harden.
The rematch takes place in prime time on Saturday when the Celtics visit the Toyota Center to take on the red-hot Rockets (8:30 p.m., TV: Channels 5 and 6; radio: WBZ-98.5 FM).
The Rockets (48-13) have put together a 14-game winning streak to move one-half game ahead of the Golden State Warriors (48-14) in the race for the NBA’s best record.
Ten years ago this month, the Celtics stopped the Rockets' franchise-record 22-game winning streak, 94-74, with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Leon Powe scoring at least 20 points each on March 18, 2008 in Houston.
For the Celtics, it will be a major test after they rebounded from a pre-All-Star break slump to win four consecutive games against sub-.500 teams in the past week.
The Rockets are rolling, led by most valuable player candidate Harden and Chris Paul, and they are shaping up to be the top challenger to the Golden State Warriors.
“We’ve got a really hard game on Saturday,’’ said Celtics coach Brad Stevens, his team second in the Eastern Conference at 48-14. “That’s a team that not only gets credit for a historically good offense, but they’re also a really good defensive team and they make it really tough to score. We’ll have our hands full.’’
That was the case in December when the Rockets visited Boston until the Celtics’ defense went to work in the second half and turned the game around in stunning fashion.
Paul, in his first season with the Rockets, did not play that night due to an injury and Harden and Eric Gordon led the offense.
Harden is averaging 31.3 points, 8.9 assists and 5.2 rebounds and is one of the most difficult players in the NBA to defend.
“He looks like a power forward,’’ said Stevens, whose team is opening a three-game road trip. “He’s elite. He’s a tough guy to guard.’’
The Celtics will have to deal with Paul this time around, who is helping the Rockets pile up points with Harden, Gordon, Clint Capela and ex-Celtics forward Gerald Green, signed by Houston in December, among others.
“First of all, they’ve got two great ball handlers in Harden and Paul,’’ said Stevens. “They can be the best player in the league on any given night. They’re incredible. They can take turns and they can also space the floor.
“They have great shooting around those guys and great rim runners in Capele, Nene and Tarik Black. It’s built perfect for the way (coach) Mike D’Antoni wants to play.
“They crush you if you overextend, they crush you if you switch because they just go isolation with those guys.’’
The Rockets are certain to be motivated against the Celtics after they collapsed in Boston only two months ago.
“We had no business winning the game here when you go back and watch it,’’ said Stevens. “We did fight. We gave ourselves a chance and we found a way. It’ll be a heckuva test.’’
Jim Fenton may be reached at jfenton@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFenton_ent.