HOUSTON— Kevin Martin scored 26 points and rookie Patrick Patterson added 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets past the slumping Boston Celtics 93-77 on Friday.
Chuck Hayes added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets, whose third victory in a row pulled Houston, 36-34, within 1 1/2 games of Memphis for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff berth.
“We were just terrific,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. “That was about as good as we can play at both ends of the court. We were reactive. We really moved the ball well. We were getting good opportunities.”
The Rockets, who lost Chinese star center Yao Ming for the season with an ankle injury after five games, outscored Boston 34-18 in the second quarter on the way to snapping the Celtics’ four-season win streak in Houston.
“This is one of those games where they did everything better,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “You just go on to the next game.”
Jeff Green scored 17 points, Glen Davis added 16 and Paul Pierce managed 10 points despite 2-of-10 shooting for the Celtics, who lost for the fourth time in six games and fell to 48-19, half a game behind Chicago for the Eastern Conference lead.
“We couldn’t get stops,” Celtics star Kevin Garnett said. “It seemed like when they took over the game, they just ran with it.”
The Rockets scored only 12 points in the fourth quarter but still never allowed Boston within 16 points, finishing with a 44-35 rebound edge and hitting 21-of-23 free throws.
“We knew that they were very physical and they were going to grab and pull and they were going to try and intimidate,” Adelman said. “All we talked about before the game and at timeouts was that you play through it.”