NBA
Rockets’ Amen Thompson on game winner vs. Celtics: ‘I feel like Kobe’
Antonio is a life long sports enthusiast and professional journalist, who shares an obssesive urge to find and dig up the most interesting facts to guide gamblers towards more exciting, yet safe bets. In his own words, ''you can never really know enough about the things you love''.
All posts by Antonio KozlowUpdated21 hours ago on January 28, 2025
Amen Thompson capped his career night with an incredible clutch moment, in which he buried the NBA reigning champions with a game-winning floater. The young star gave the Rockets a 114-112 victory over the Celtics this past Monday evening after dropping in a shot with 0.7 seconds to the final buzzer.Â
The 21-year-old produced a career-high 33 points to lead his squad to a victory that pushes Houston even further in the Western Conference’s standings, with a 31-14 record in second place. His teammate Dillon Brooks, who shot 10-of-15 from beyond the arc, led the squad with 36 points.
The Celtics, who weren’t able to beat a team who has now won for the ninth time in the last 11 matches, had Jaylen Brown score 28 points, plus 19 points from Jayson Tatum, after going scoreless in the first half. Luke Kornet contributed with 18, and Kristaps Porzingis hit 17 along with 8 rebounds.
AMEN THOMPSON WINS IT FOR THE ROCKETS IN THE FINAL SECONDS 🚨🚨
ROCKETS MOVE TO 12-3 WITH AMEN IN THE STARTING LINEUP THIS SEASON! pic.twitter.com/v77x2RHkV2
— NBA (@NBA) January 28, 2025
Thompson first broke free from an inbounds play and went alone for an easy dunk that pushed his team in front 112-110, but after a timeout, Boston tied the match with 5.3 seconds left in the contest. This was when Amen took the ball from outside the arc, and drove to the rim, only to lay the game winner over Brown.
“That was my first game-winner,” the young guard said during his on-court postgame interview, just as he was celebrating his winning shot with Brooks. “I feel like Kobe.”
Rival coach Joe Mazzulla blamed himself for the last two defensive breakdowns. “Those last two plays were on me,” he said after the contest. “Those were my fault. Didn’t put us in the best matchups. I saw the play that they were trying to run, and I tried to change the matchups and put our guys in a tough spot.”
Back on January 3, the Celtics beat the Rockets easily that night, but something changed during their recent matchup. For the reigning champs, center Al Horford (last minute scratch) ,Derrick White (bruised right shin) and Sam Hauser (right hip) were out of action.
