TD Garden has not felt like the safe haven it should be for the Celtics.
On Monday night, the crowd did its part in a clutch time finish against the Rockets, a team in a similar spot over in the West that has a slight hold over the 2-seed. After returning from a 3-1 road trip, the hometown faithful welcomed home the Celtics in what felt like a playoff atmosphere.
And the team in green had its moments, and certainly its opportunities, to finish the job and squeak out a hard-fought win at home, but self-inflicted wounds crushed those hopes like an anvil on a coyote.