HOUSTON – The undermanned Celtics improved to 2-0 on their road trip to start 2025 with a resounding 109-84 win over the Houston Rockets on Friday night despite missing two rotation players.

Kristaps Porzingis was inconsistent from the start in his return from an ankle injury, and Boston had a strong performance as a team, scoring 37 points in the first quarter behind some hot shooting from Jrue Holiday and Payton Pritchard in the first frame.

From then on the offense slowed down, but thanks to a strong defense the guests were able to maintain their lead. Joe Mazzulla opted to play double bigs for most of the game and even used Luke Kornet instead of Sam Hauser early in the second half to bolster the team’s defense. After an ugly third quarter, the Celtics closed the game with an 11-0 run and began the fourth quarter with Jayson Tatum on the bench.

The win gives Boston its third straight overall and improves to 26-9 on the year and 13-3 on the road.

Derrick White (23 points) led the visitors as five different players scored in double figures despite the absences of Jaylen Brown (shoulder) and Al Horford (rest). Jalen Green scored a team-high 27 points for the hosts, who were without key defenders Jabari Smith Jr. (hand), Amen Thompson (suspension) and Tari Eason (injury management).

The Celtics get a day off before trying to improve to 3-0 on their road trip in a Sunday afternoon showdown against the Thunder.

Here are four takeaways from the Celtics from Friday’s game:

Kristaps Porzingis starts slowly, but ends well: The big man was back in Boston’s lineup after a four-game absence due to a sprained ankle. It was a difficult start for the centre-back as he had to go up against Sengun, an elite offensive talent, who committed two quick fouls and set him on fire with multiple possessions off the post out of the net. However, Porzingis rebounded better in the second quarter when Joe Mazzulla opted to play alongside him for the entire frame. Mazzulla continued this strategy in the second half, starting Kornet over Sam Hauser at the start of the third quarter. Porzingis seemed unprepared for the Rockets’ physicality at times, but maneuvered well on his ankle. Ultimately a step in the right direction, but Porzingis still has some work to do to find his offensive rhythm, especially against teams that try to be very physical with him. He finished with 11 points in 28 minutes.

Jrue Holiday provides a valuable early spark: The veteran guard set the tone for Boston immediately after the goal, scoring 12 points in just eight minutes in the first quarter. He aggressively looked for his shot from distance and took advantage of the Rockets’ smaller guards from deep. Mazzulla wisely chose to keep his minutes low on the night after coming off a heavy minutes load in the second round, but it was obvious Holiday knew he had to be effective offensively against a stout Rockets defense.

The Celtics play almost flawlessly on offense in the first half: After the lowest turnover performance of the season on Thursday night, the Celtics put on an incredibly disciplined performance in the first half. The team turned the ball over only once against a top-three Rockets defense and was unfazed by Houston’s physical defense. Tatum and Pritchard were particularly strong on the ball in their offense, working well through contact and the entire team was 11-to-1 in assisting in winning possession. The mistakes piled up in the third quarter as the Celtics turned the ball over on defense eight times in a 17-point third quarter.

The Celtics shut down the Rockets on the offensive glass in the second half: The Celtics shot better than the Rockets all night, but the hosts managed to stay in the game thanks to their offensive rebounds. They are the best team in the NBA in this regard, and it showed against Boston’s undermanned frontcourt as they collected 14 second-chance points off seven offensive rebounds in the first half alone. Sengun and Steven Adams did most of the damage on that front as Porzingis struggled to win on the glass. However, the Celtics’ double-sized lineups neutralized this attack in the second half, as Sengun did not score after halftime and Houston only had two second chance points.

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