NBA 2026-27 · Regular season · Meeting 1 of the season
What does Celtics vs Rockets change in the NBA playoff race?
Live scores on this page can lag by up to 10 minutes.
Scoring by quarter
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtics | 29 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
| Rockets | 29 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 57 |
What's at stake
Current standings (93 games played league-wide) plus this one result, recomputed for all 30 teams in both conferences. Arithmetic, not odds. Interconference game: each result moves one team in each conference.
Celtics win
- CelticsEast #2→#1Magic 74→73Top-6 magic 74→73
- RocketsWest #2→#3Top-6 magic 75→-
- 76ersEast #1→#2
- Trail BlazersWest #3→#2
Magic number = wins left to lock a top-10 (play-in) finish (top-6 magic: a direct berth); tragic number = losses left until elimination. Ties count against the team. How we calculate →
Season series
Meeting 1 of 2 this season
Before this game
- Nov 2 Celtics @ Rockets (Scheduled)
- Jan 11 Rockets @ Celtics (Scheduled)
Team records
Injury report
Celtics
- Devin CarterOut
- Paul GeorgeOut
Rockets
- Steven AdamsOut
- Reed SheppardAvailable
- Clint CapelaOut
- Quadir CopelandOut
- Julian PhillipsOut
BALLDONTLIE injury report (status only). It can change before tip-off.
Box score
Game leaders
- PointsJayson Tatum 11Alperen Sengun 12
- ReboundsJayson Tatum 4Jabari Smith Jr. 5
- AssistsJayson Tatum 4Alperen Sengun 4
Team stats
| Celtics | Rockets | |
|---|---|---|
| Field goals | 18-42 (42.9%) | 23-44 (52.3%) |
| 3-pointers | 7-22 (31.8%) | 5-17 (29.4%) |
| Free throws | 7-8 (87.5%) | 6-9 (66.7%) |
| Rebounds | 22 (8 off.) | 19 (6 off.) |
| Assists | 11 | 17 |
| Steals | 2 | 4 |
| Blocks | 1 | 2 |
| Turnovers | 7 | 4 |
| Fouls | 11 | 8 |
Percentages are made ÷ attempted.
Celtics players
| Player | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | FG | 3PT | FT | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J. TatumF | 17 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3-9 | 1-4 | 4-4 | -2 |
| P. PritchardG | 16 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-3 | 0-3 | 1-2 | -6 |
| D. WhiteG | 14 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-6 | 0-3 | 0-0 | -3 |
| B. ScheiermanG | 12 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2-3 | 1-2 | 0-0 | -6 |
| N. QuetaC | 12 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 2-2 | +9 |
| S. HauserF | 12 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-4 | 0-3 | 0-0 | +4 |
| H. GonzálezG | 9 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | -10 |
| L. GarzaC | 9 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3-7 | 3-5 | 0-0 | +7 |
| J. WalshG | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | -8 |
| M. RobinsonC | 7 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | -14 |
| M. ConleyG | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | -6 |
| T | 120 | 50 | 22 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 18-42 | 7-22 | 7-8 |
Did not play: C. Cenac Jr., R. Harper Jr., D. Mitchell
Rockets players
| Player | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | FG | 3PT | FT | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. SengunF-C | 18 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6-8 | 0-1 | 0-0 | +9 |
| K. DurantF | 17 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | +8 |
| J. Smith Jr.F | 16 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2-6 | 1-2 | 0-0 | +8 |
| F. VanVleetG | 16 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1-5 | 1-5 | 0-0 | +14 |
| A. ThompsonG-F | 14 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4-5 | 0-0 | 4-5 | +2 |
| T. EasonF | 13 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4-5 | 3-4 | 0-0 | +2 |
| R. SheppardG | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-4 | 0-2 | 0-0 | -5 |
| M. SmartG | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-3 | 0-2 | 2-2 | -7 |
| O. TshiebweF-C | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 |
| B. BogdanovicG | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | +6 |
| I. CrawfordF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | -2 |
| T | 120 | 57 | 19 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 23-44 | 5-17 | 6-9 |
Did not play: S. Adams, C. Capela, J. Tate, B. Thornton
MIN in minutes. +/- is the score difference while the player was on the court.
Game data: BALLDONTLIE. Magic and tragic numbers are computed by this site.