More than just his stats, Horford brings a calming veteran presence to a Celtics squad brimming with youthful talent. His leadership and basketball IQ are critical in high-pressur

Joe Mazzulla took the blame for the late-game miscues, saying he put his players in poor position but it was evident that Horford’s absence proved costly in that spot since Kornet has not played in crunch time for much of the season.

The Celtics might be without two players, Derrick White and Al Horford, when they take on the Rockets on Monday night.

Boston will be relatively healthy and luckily, they will have their veteran center on the court, Al Horford ... between the Rockets will be their final of the season against Houston.

The Celtics did not exit their four-game West Coast swing unscathed. Ahead of its first game back at TD Garden on Monday night, Boston ruled out starting guard Derrick White (left shin contusion) and rotation wing Sam Hauser (right hip impingement).

The Celtics pushed their lead to as many as 12 points early in the fourth quarter Rockets did not go down without a fight late, answering with a 13-0 run to retake the lead. It was a back-and-forth battle down the stretch with the two sides trading baskets before Thompson hit the game-winner with 0.7 seconds left in regulation.

The Celtics expected to be down two rotation players in their matchup with the Rockets. Minutes before tipoff, they learned they’d actually be missing three.

Amen Thompson had the clutch go-ahead bucket and Dillon Brooks made a franchise record-tying 10 3-pointers in the Rockets' win over the Celtics on Monday.

Amen Thompson hit a game-winning floater with 0.7 seconds left and finished with 33 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 114-112 victory over the Boston Celtics.

To open a road back-to-back, the Rockets are underdogs Monday at Boston. The defending champion Celtics (-6.5) enter with three wins in four games.

Kornet will start in Monday's matchup against the Rockets ... Payton Pritchard and Al Horford are in line to handle expanded roles in Boston's rotation against Houston. White (shin) has been ...

The Boston Celtics are heading back home after a successful four-game West Coast road trip. The Celtics capped it off on Saturday night against the Dallas Mave