STAR PERFORMANCE
Thompson hits game-winning shot as Rockets rally past Celtics
Jan 27, 2025, 9:38 pm
Rockets beat the Celtics, 114-112. Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images.
Amen Thompson hit a game-winning floater with 0.7 seconds left and finished with 33 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 114-112 victory over the Boston Celtics on Monday night.
Dillon Brooks shot 10 of 15 from 3-point range and led Houston with 36 points. The Rockets won for the ninth time in 11 games.
Jaylen Brown had 28 points for the Celtics, and Jayson Tatum added 19 after a scoreless first half. Luke Kornet had 18 and Kristaps Porzingis scored 17 to go with eight rebounds.
Rockets leading scorer Jalen Green was held to 12 points.
Thompson broke free off an inbounds play and went in for an easy dunk, pushing Houston in front 112-110. But after a timeout, Tatum got the ball near midcourt and drove in for the tying layup with 5.3 seconds left.
Brooks’ 10th 3-pointer gave the Rockets a 108-106 lead with 1:39 to play.
The Celtics easily won the first meeting between the teams in Houston on Jan. 3.
Houston coach Ime Udoka said before the game that forward Cam Whitmore was “sick and back at the hotel.”
Takeaways
Rockets: Coming off their second win over East-leading Cleveland in a week, the surprising Rockets rallied after falling behind by 12 early in the final quarter.
Celtics: With center Al Horford a very late scratch after going through warmups, Derrick White (bruised right shin) and Sam Hauser (right hip) all out, coach Joe Mazzulla mixed and matched some unusual lineups by going deep into the bench.
Key moment
Thompson took the ball just outside the 3-point line, drove and hit his winning shot over Brown.
Key stat
Tatum missed all five shot attempts in the opening half.
Up next
The Rockets are at the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, the third stop on a four-game trip. The Celtics host the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday.
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Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.
Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.
The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.
Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.