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 Rockets ruled out wing Cam Whitmore (illness) and have been without starting forward Jabari Smith Jr. since Smith fractured his hand earlier this month. Amen Thompson and Tari Eason, who both missed the first Celtics-Rockets game on Jan. 3, both were available for Houston.

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.

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 Houston Rockets are in the midst of perhaps their ... Boston is expected to be near or at full health, with Derrick White and Al Horford currently listed as questionable for the game.

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.

Dillon Brooks shot 10 of 15 from 3-point range and led Houston ... the surprising Rockets rallied after falling behind by 12 early in the final quarter. Celtics: With center Al Horford a very ...

On Monday evening, the Boston Celtics will play the Houston Rockets (at home). For the game, they have announced their injury report (updated as of 2:30 Eastern Time). Al Horford, Sam Hauser and ...

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.