Kristaps Porzingis made some NBA history in Celtics' win over Rockets

BOSTON -- The Celtics are so loaded that on any given night, someone in a Boston uniform is going to do something special. Sunday night in Houston, it was Kristaps Porzingis' turn.

The Boston big man stuffed the stat sheet in the C's 116-107 victory over the Rockets, making it rain from downtown and swatting away shots on defense. It was just the latest example of what Porzingis can do for the Celtics on both ends of the floor.

Porzingis finished with a game-high 32 points to go along with six rebounds and five blocked shots against the Rockets. He had a lethal pick-and-pop game throughout the win and knocked down six of his 11 attempts from 3-point range.

Sunday marked just the third time in NBA history that a player has scored 32 or more points, drained six threes, and blocked five or more shots in the same game, with Porzingis turning in two of those performances. He also accomplished the feat in 2020, with Brook Lopez responsible for the other instance in 2017.

Porzingis is now also the leader in the clubhouse with his third game of 30 or more points, five or more 3-pointers made, and five or more blocks in a game. With the damage he did against the Rockets, Porzingis passed former Celtic Raef LaFrentz for the most such games in NBA history.

Celtics fans will now reflect long and hard on LaFrentz's career in green, but neither of his Porzingis-like performances came during his time in Boston. Porzingis became the first player in Boston franchise history to record six made threes and five blocks in a game on Sunday night.

Porzingis did most of his damage in the first half, scoring 20 points off 6-for-13 shooting overall. He made four of his threes before halftime, and hit two more in his six-point third quarter. He didn't attempt a three in the fourth quarter, but did score six more points (off a pair of turnarounds and a long jumper) as Boston marched to its 33rd win of the season. His turnaround with just under eight minutes left pushed Boston's lead back up to five points, and that was as close as the Rockets would get the rest of the way.

On a night where Jayson Tatum shot just 4-for-17 and Jaylen Brown scored only 13 points (while logging a triple-double with 11 rebounds and 10 assists), the Celtics needed someone to pack the scoring punch. Porzingis was happy to take the charge in Houston.

"Each night it can be a different guy that has a good game," he said after the win. "We have the trust in each other that we're willing to sacrifice and let's get this guy the ball, he's having a good night. Tonight, it was my night. I caught a couple of good passes from JB late and took advantage of the mismatch."

"Big difference maker," Brown said of Porzingis. "When teams start switching us and try to slow our offense down, we can always just go and find KP on those mid-post isolations. He's great in those areas. Going forward and getting ready for postseason, that's stuff that we want to keep sharpening up. But we got all the trust in the world, and tonight we wanted to keep finding him.

"And the big fella got going tonight, and helped us win this game," added Brown.