Joe Mazzulla blames himself for Celtics loss after Rockets win at buzzer

BOSTON — Sitting at the podium after Monday night’s Celtics loss, Joe Mazzulla didn’t critique Luke Kornet for his positioning on Alperen Sengun or Jaylen Brown for his last-second defense on Amen Thompson.

The late Houston Rockets baskets that put Boston on the wrong end of a 114-112 thriller at TD Garden, Mazzulla said, should be blamed on the head coach.

“Those last two plays are on me,” Mazzulla said. “Those are my fault. I didn’t put us in the best matchups. I saw the play that they were trying to run; I tried to change the matchups and put our guys in a tough spot. That’s a tough one just because I thought our guys did everything to win the game. They put us in position to win, and I didn’t help them at the end. Both those plays, 100% on me.”

Sengun’s wide-open, after-timeout dunk with Kornet in pursuit gave Houston a two-point cushion with 10.1 seconds remaining. Jayson Tatum responded with a contested driving layup, but Amen Thompson provided the dagger when he shook Jaylen Brown and sank a game-winning step-back jumper with 1.1 seconds to play. The Celtics led by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter but couldn’t close.

“Our guys played great for 47 minutes and 30 seconds, and I didn’t help them close it at the end,” Mazzulla lamented. “I have to be better.”

Thompson and Rockets teammate Dillon Brooks combined for 69 points in the win, with Brooks going an incredible 10 for 15 from 3-point range. Brown scored 28 points to lead Boston, and Tatum tallied all 19 of his points in the second half, during which he did not leave the floor. Kristaps Porzingis added 17 points, eight rebounds and one of Boston’s four blocks, and Luke Kornet had 18 points and seven boards after being elevated to the starting lineup minutes before tipoff.

Payton Pritchard went 5 for 6 from 3 in a 15-point performance off the Celtics’ bench.

The win was Houston head coach Ime Udoka’s first over his former team since his 2022 Celtics exit. His Rockets are 9-2 since being blown out by Boston on Jan. 3 and now own the NBA’s third-best record.

With starting guard Derrick White (shin) and rotation wing Sam Hauser (hip) unavailable due to injury, Mazzulla deployed some seldom-used and unexpected lineup combinations. The Celtics initially announced Al Horford would start in White’s place — standard operating procedure when any Boston starter sits out — only to reverse course and start backup center Kornet alongside Tatum, Brown, Porzingis and Jrue Holiday.

Kornet and Porzingis had played just 54 minutes together all season, but those had been highly effective minutes for Boston, which entered Monday with an impressive 24.2 net rating when the big men shared the floor. The two worked well early against Houston, teaming up to score 12 of the Celtics’ first 19 points as Boston built a seven-point lead midway through the first quarter.

Horford was on the bench and in uniform for this opening flurry after being listed as questionable with a big toe injury. But Mazzulla’s first round of substitutions featured Boston’s fourth- and fifth-string bigs, Neemias Queta and Xavier Tillman. It was the first non-garbage-time action for Tillman since Dec. 4, who hasn’t been part of the Celtics’ regular rotation since the first week of the season and didn’t play at all in five of the previous six games.

Queta and Tillman both are non-shooters (they’ve hit four 3-pointers between them this season) and that lineup struggled to score against a Rockets team that came in with the NBA’s fourth-best defensive rating. Houston ripped off a 14-0 run against the Queta/Tillman group to take a 31-25 lead late in the first.

Jordan Walsh also saw first-quarter minutes for Boston, and Jaden Springer checked in at the start of the second. By halftime, the Celtics had used every active member of their 15-man roster except Horford and rookie Baylor Scheierman.

After the game, Mazzulla said Horford “did everything he could to get ready” during warmups but “just didn’t feel comfortable going.” He said Kornet, who went 8 for 9 from the field, was “tremendous” in Horford’s stead.

Mazzulla’s personnel usage wasn’t the only first-half oddity. Tatum also was held to zero points before halftime (0 for 5; 0 for 4 from 3) for the first time since Nov. 4, 2021 and just the 10th time in his NBA career. He did dish out five first-half assists, however, and despite his lack of scoring and the struggles of Boston’s depleted bench, the Celtics entered the second half trailing by just two points, 54-52.

Porzingis and Brown combined for 31 of those points, with the former drawing the loudest cheer of the night when he slammed home his own miss, bumped Brooks and taunted the Rockets forward. That celebration earned Porzingis a technical foul, but Houston missed the free throw, and the fan-favorite center basked in the crowd’s reaction, lifting his arms and smiling.

Brown stayed hot to start the second half, scoring eight points in the first four minutes of the third quarter. Tatum began attacking the basket effectively, scoring 15 in the third despite making just two field goals outside the restricted area. But Porzingis picked up his fifth foul with just 20 minutes remaining, forcing Mazzulla to reach even deeper into his bag of backups.

Two-way player Drew Peterson subbed in for his first NBA appearance since Jan. 3. Queta replaced Porzingis and played the next nine straight minutes. Springer, possible deadline trade bait who’s made the most of his recent uptick in playing time, returned to the floor and buried a 3-pointer that tied the game at 79-79. Another 3 by Pritchard a minute later made it 84-82 Celtics.

After Jalen Green responded with a go-ahead triple, Boston launched into a 12-0 to stretch its lead to double digits. The Rockets then rallied to cut it to three with 6:39 remaining, at which point Porzingis checked back in. Back-to-back buckets from Thompson, sandwiched around an acrobatic block by the uber-athletic 21-year-old, put Houston back in front.

The lead changed hands four more times in the ensuing four minutes. A Holiday 3-pointer and a driving Porzingis dunk put Boston on top; Brooks’ 10th 3 of the game and a shot-clock-beating fadeaway jumper by Thompson did the same for Houston. Down 110-108 with 11.8 seconds remaining — and with Boston down to one timeout after losing a fourth-quarter challenge — Brown drove the lane, drew a foul and made both free throws.

The teams then traded rapid-fire makes by Sengun and Tatum before Thompson shook Brown and drilled his game-winner. Unable to stop the clock at that point, the Celtics settled for a desperation Pritchard heave that sailed long.

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