BOSTON - Due to their grueling December schedule so obviously conspiring against them in recent weeks, the Boston Celtics had every reason to roll over on Thursday night. The fresh-legged Houston Rockets had built a 26-point first-half lead, and Boston seemed to have no answer for containing James Harden and his teammates.
But on the second night of a back-to-back while playing shorthanded, the Celtics displayed some of the resiliency that decorated their 16-game winning streak earlier this season. Fueled almost entirely by energy on the defensive end - and aided by two James Harden offensive fouls in the final seconds - the Celtics improbably rallied for a 99-98 triumph at TD Garden.