HOUSTON — Chuck Hayes showed Kevin Garnett he wasn’t intimidated, and the Houston Rockets took a cue from their tough forward and routed the Boston Celtics.
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Kevin Martin scored 25 points, and rookie Patrick Patterson had 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds in the Rockets’ 93-77 victory Friday night.
Hayes had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets, who have won three straight and moved within 1 games of Memphis for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The Rockets shot well and pulled away in the second quarter, outscoring Boston, 34-18. As the deficit widened, the Celtics started losing their poise.
Garnett and Hayes traded shoves and words, and referee Jason Phillips gave them both technical fouls. Hayes was glad to get one and make a statement that the Rockets weren’t going to back down.
“They tried to isolate him on the block and that was the wrong time to do it,” Hayes said. “I had so much adrenaline rushing, I was determined not to let him get a score.”
On the next play, Glen Davis fell into the crowd along the baseline after he was pushed by Jordan Hill, then got up yelling and pointing at Hill. The Houston backup forward was called for a personal, and Davis got a technical with 2:45 remaining.
“It was just a wild sequence there,” Hayes said. “We took the momentum. They tried their best to be aggressive. We fought them right back.”
A minute later, Delonte West was whistled for a flagrant foul when he hammered Hill under the Rockets’ basket.
Houston took advantage of Boston’s outbursts, hitting all the free throws and extending the lead to 58-37. Kyle Lowry swished another 3-pointer just before the buzzer to make it 62-40 at the break.
“We were just terrific,” Houston Coach Rick Adelman said. “That was about as good as we can play at both ends. We were reactive, we really moved the ball well, we were getting good opportunities.”
Jeff Green scored 17 points and Davis added 16 for the Celtics, who have lost 4 of 6. Boston remained a half-game behind Chicago for the best record in the East.
Paul Pierce scored 10 points but went 2 of 10 from the field, and Rajon Rondo had only four points on 2-of-11 shooting. Boston’s point total was a season low for a Rockets’ opponent.
Coach Doc Rivers rested his starters for the fourth quarter, about the only positive thing to come out of the performance.
“I just thought, ‘Let’s just throw this one away,’ ” Rivers said.
“This is one of those games where they did everything better. You just go on to the next game.”
The Rockets went 7 of 14 from 3-point range and 15 of 15 from the foul line in the first half.
“We can’t let our offense dictate what our defense does,” Garnett said. “We couldn’t get stops. It seemed like when they took over the game, they just ran with it.”
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