Boston Celtics SHOCK Houston Rockets, 55 from Payton Pritchard and Derrick White: Five reasons why they won

The Celtics were shorthanded and on a back-to-back in Houston on Wednesday night. They were without Jaylen Brown and Sam Hauser, the Anfernee Simons trade still isn’t official, and Chris Boucher is still waiting to be dealt. But even with 10 guys available, they fought hard, eventually catching fire to run away from the Rockets, 114-93.

Box Score

Game Flow: The first quarter was 12 minutes of some of the most physical, active defense you’ll see in a regular season game, and the result was an 18-17 Boston lead. Payton Pritchard and Derrick White broke free to actually score some points, nine apiece, and take a six-point lead into halftime. They came out hot in the third to open a 16-point lead. Derrick White went off in the third and the lead touched 26 before the Rockets made a run. But a late foul on Neemias Queta’s offensive rebound and two techs that got Ime Udoka ejected got Boston’s lead to 22 heading into the fourth. Alperen Sengun joined Udoka, getting tossed as Boston’s lead reached 28 and ran away with it.

Here are five reasons why they won.

The defense was off the charts

This was probably their best defensive effort of the season. They played tough and physical across the board, but I was especially impressed with Neemias Queta and Luka Garza, who each had two steals and who knows how many deflections or altered passes. Queta blocked five shots as well and grabbed 12 defensive rebounds.

“I thought Luka and Neemie were great tonight,” Joe Mazzulla said after the game. “Neemie was kind of the best version of him, and even though he only [shot] three for four, you just felt his presence. I thought Luka’s ability to make things difficult on Sengun and then help us on the offensive end. I thought those guys were great.”

Cinema 🎦

Neemi's steal to the big three from Baylor is tonight's @JetBlue Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/oXn1ujzgkR
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 5, 2026

On top of that, Ron Harper Jr. did a great job on Kevin Durant, who was nonexistent in this game aside from one small stretch in the third quarter.

Celtics giving KD hell tonight pic.twitter.com/ULt97FbrEA
— Danielle Hobeika (@DanielleHobeika) February 5, 2026

The Celtics held the Rockets to 93 points, 41.5% shooting, and just 12 offensive rebounds.

They crushed Houston on the offensive boards

Boston had 20 offensive rebounds.

TWENTY.

Queta had seven of them, Harper had four, and Garza had three. Everyone outside of garbage time grabbed at least one except for Derrick White. Boston was +12 in second chance points, which might be the most shocking stat of all. Grabbing offensive rebounds is what Houston does. It’s their entire offensive identity. For Boston to win that battle by 12 explains most of what you need to know.

Derrick White played like an All-Star

His third quarter was part of breaking this game open. He scored 14 points on 4-7 shooting from deep. White has a knack for stepping up in big moments, and he did that in a big way in this game. He hit tough shots, fought through a lot of contact to create for himself, and gave Boston a 28-point night when they needed someone to pick up the scoring.

Derrick White has 14 points in the 3rd quarter, 28 total pic.twitter.com/yY8sAbhRJB
— Danielle Hobeika (@DanielleHobeika) February 5, 2026

He also dished eight assists, so he was finding guys as well.

Payton Pritchard is back on his Sixth Man of the Year level

This started out tough for him, but he had an efficient second half on his way to a 27-point night off the bench again, to go along with seven assists.

Pritchard really picked things up at the end of the second quarter and was a much-needed spark after a tough offensive first quarter.

I like Pritchard as a starter, but I love him as a sixth man. He was born to play that role.

Role players, like Ron Harper Jr., were huge.

Harper Jr. had played 35 minutes coming into the game and he nearly doubled it Wednesday night. Again, his defense was spectacular, but he hit shots, crashed the glass, and made the right plays.

RON HARPER JR 😤 pic.twitter.com/cw5jMJsaW1
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 5, 2026

Baylor Scheierman hit some important momentum shots and scored 15 points, but just as importantly, it came as part of his first career double-double. His 10 rebounds was three more than his previous career-high, and he added four assists.

Hugo Gonzalez came in and gave them some decent minutes as well.

PLUS/MINUS

PLUSES

► Queta had 10 rebounds early in the second quarter. He was vacuuming up a lot of early Rockets misses.

► He also had one of the most hilarious plays you’ll see. This sequence is pure chaos.

This is the most chaotic 15 seconds ever, we have a Luka Garza layup, and back to back Neemias Queta blocks with a steal in between pic.twitter.com/aoVSVYeJ2C
— Danielle Hobeika (@DanielleHobeika) February 5, 2026

► Garza’s deceleration step is incredibly effective.

Luka Garza and 1 off the feed from Ron Harper Jr. pic.twitter.com/E7ErbxBwqQ
— Danielle Hobeika (@DanielleHobeika) February 5, 2026

The decel step is a recent innovation that you’ll see everyone develop. The change of pace behind it is hell on a defense.

MINUSES

► They turned the ball over 15 times for 21 Rockets points. They lost the points off turnovers battle by seven. That usually hurts them more than it did in this game.

►Josh Minott got some early run and played seven minutes, and he didn’t look great. He missed the one shot he took, he committed a turnover, and he looked a little lost. I’m not sure that magic from earlier this season is coming back.

Up next: Boston returns home to take on Miami Friday night