LOS ANGELES: The Boston Celtics fashioned the biggest comeback of the NBA season as they rallied from 26 points down to stun the Houston Rockets 99-98 on Thursday.
鈥淚鈥檝e had a few comebacks, but this is a special one,鈥� Boston鈥檚 Kyrie Irving said after a basket by Al Horford with 3.7 seconds left gave the Celtics the win.
鈥淔rom just how we started, it was just so ugly,鈥� Irving said. 鈥淭hey came out firing. We just had to battle back. It took a lot. It took everybody.鈥�
Eastern Conference leaders Boston trailed by 24 at halftime and by 26 early in the third quarter.
But the Celtics out-scored Houston 31-16 in the third, when Boston鈥檚 dominant defensive effort saw the Rockets make just four of 17 shots from the field while coughing up seven turnovers.
鈥淲e just didn鈥檛 stop believing,鈥� said Boston鈥檚 Terry Rozier, who said Irving called the players together for 鈥渁 special talk鈥� at halftime.
The Celtics had cut the deficit to 98-97 on a dunk from Jayson Tatum with 7.3 seconds remaining.
Rockets star James Harden was then called for an offensive foul as Boston鈥檚 Marcus Smart was knocked down as Houston tried to inbound the ball.
That opened the door for Horford鈥檚 game winner, and Harden was then whistled for another offensive foul that sealed the Rockets鈥� fate.
The Celtics topped the previous biggest comeback of the season 鈥� the Golden State Warriors rally from 24 down to beat the Philadelphia 76ers on November 18.
Irving led the Celtics with 26 points. Tatum scored 19 while Rozier and Smart scored 13 apiece.
Horford finished with nine points, and also pulled down eight rebounds.
鈥淔irst of all, (the Rockets) were unbelievable in the first half,鈥� Boston coach Brad Stevens said. 鈥淭he result doesn鈥檛 really matter. It鈥檚 the resilience that (the Celtics) showed, which they could have easily folded.鈥�