HOUSTON — Isaiah Thomas scored 23 points and the Boston Celtics used a 32-point third quarter to pull away and cruise to a 111-95 win over the slumping Houston Rockets on Monday night.
It is the third straight win for the Celtics and gives Houston a four-game losing streak for the first time since the team dropped seven straight in January 2013.
Boston led by 4 after a 3-pointer by James Harden with 3:20 left in the third quarter. The Celtics closed out the quarter by scoring 15 straight points to take a 87-68 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Celtics rode the momentum from their strong third quarter into the early part of the fourth quarter and used a 13-4 run to open the period and extend the lead to 100-72. Avery Bradley scored seven points with a dunk and a 3-pointer to lead the team in that stretch.
Coach Kevin McHale pulled most of Houston’s starters after that.
Bradley finished with 21 points and made four 3-pointers and Jae Crowder added 16 points.
Trevor Ariza led Houston with 19 points and Harden had 16.
It was a sloppy game by the Rockets, who dropped to 4-7 this season, thanks in part to 22 turnovers.
The Rockets led by as many as 15 in the first quarter, but the Celtics got going in the second and it was tied 55-55 at halftime.
Houston was up by 1 after a dunk by Ariza in the third quarter. The Celtics scored the next eight points to take a 67-61 lead with about 5 1/2 minutes left in quarter.
Houston had three turnovers in that span and went more than 2 1/2 minutes without scoring. Ariza finally broke the drought with a 3-pointer with 5:22 left in the third. But the Rockets shooting woes would soon return, allowing the Celtics to build the lead.
Bradley made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions near the end of Boston’s big run, causing the visitor’s bench and the few Celtics fans in the crowd to go wild. The players on the bench jumped up and down and held three fingers in the air.
Houston missed six straight shots and had a turnover as Boston built the lead and the Rockets managed just 13 points in the quarter.
There was a minor scuffle midway through the third quarter when Terrence Jones tried to grab the ball out of the hands of Amir Johnson after he fell to the court at the end of a play. Harden and Thomas joined the incident and began shoving each other before they were pulled apart. Jones, Harden and Thomas all received technical fouls after a review by the officials.
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