Houston Rockets – Boston Celtics · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 28 December 2017

HOU98–99BOS

Is it worth watching?

Skippable

It was more exciting than 44% of NBA games since 2017

· It was still open in the final minutes

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ BOS winsHOU wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when BOS leads and falls when HOU does.

This is how the game was decided.

Kyrie Irving decided it, the Boston Celtics player with the most points (26, with 4 rebounds and 4 assists; +7 with him on the floor). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Boston Celtics 99-98 Houston Rockets (December 28, 2017) was hit by Al Horford: a jump shot with 3.0 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Boston Celtics up 99-98. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Boston Celtics 99-98 Houston Rockets (December 28, 2017) was a 12-0 run by the Boston Celtics in the third quarter (from 5:06 to 3:09), from 48-71 to 60-71. The Houston Rockets' best was a 12-0 run in the first quarter (from 11:38 to 9:02), from 0-0 to 12-0.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Al Horford makes 5-foot driving floating jump shot.

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Al Horford decided this game: his points put his team ahead with 3 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 6 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Horford decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

28 December 2017 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:400975263:657; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2017-18 regular season, not this game.

Houston Rockets

Trevor Ariza deflected 2.9 passes per game over his 66 games.
He ranks 15 of 362 in the league.
James Harden deflected 2.9 passes per game over his 72 games.
He ranks 20 of 362 in the league.
P.J. Tucker recovered 1.2 loose balls per game over his 82 games.
He ranks 44 of 362 in the league.

Boston Celtics

Marcus Smart drew 0.24 charges per game over his 54 games.
He ranks 10 of 362 in the league.
Al Horford contested 12.3 shots per game over his 72 games.
He ranks 11 of 362 in the league.
Aron Baynes drew 0.21 charges per game over his 81 games.
He ranks 16 of 362 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Boston Celtics have won 97 of their 154 games against the Houston Rockets.

97-57record of the Boston Celtics · NBA 1971-72 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

1-1in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 1971-72 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

18.624

100% of capacity

TD Garden · Boston

Scoring

197

combined points

15.7 below the season average (212.7)