Mar. 13—This time, after teasing and tormenting themselves with almost, the Rockets did just enough.

They made just enough free throws, got just enough stops down the stretch, and found just enough good fortune when the Celtics’ final shot to force overtime missed.

After agonizing losses to the Pacers and Bulls, the Rockets held on to stun the Celtics on Monday, 111109, surviving when Jayson Tatum’s drive to force overtime missed.

It was a shaky finish in many ways, but also filled with the perseverance it took to hold off a team with the NBA’s second-best record.

The Rockets had taken an 11-point lead when Kevin Porter Jr. finished a drive with 4:42 left. But Porter seemed to bang knees, went down in pain as the Celtics scored. The Rockets called time out to get him out of the game with 14 points, 12 assists.

The Rockets missed their next two shots and had a pair of turnovers, scoring with a pair of Jalen Green free throws, but struggled to get shots. When the Celtics won a challenge and the ensuing jump ball, the Rockets had scored two points in the 2:20 Porter was out, with Malcolm Brogdon adding a pair of free throws to pull the Celtics to within five heading into the final two minutes.

Al Horford stuffed Green on a drive and then won the tip, before Brogdon drove to a three-point play.

That gave the Celtics an 11-2 run to within two, and Jae’Sean Tate was called for fouling Marcus Smart.

Green hit a 12-footer with 1:25 left, and Tatum missed, leaving the Rockets one minute to close out the win.

Tate, however, fouled Jaylen Brown on a 3-pointer. Brown had carried the Boston offense all night, but made two of three shots with 52.3 seconds left, giving him 43 points, but keeping the Rockets in front.

K.J. Martin missed a corner 3, but got the rebound. When the teams exchanged turnovers, the Celtics had to foul to stop the clock.

Green went to the line with 10 seconds left, giving him 28 points, and knocked down both attempts for a 110-107 lead.

The Celtics went for the quick basket, even positioning Tatum in the backcourt to bring the Rockets’ Jabari Smith Jr. away from the paint. Brown scored immediately.

After a Rockets timeout, the Celtics sent Smith to the line for the first time all night. He made one of two free throws, giving the Rockets a two-point lead with 7.8 seconds remaining as Smith finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds.

The Celtics used their final timeout, again positioning Tatum in the backcourt.

This time, Brown could not work free, but the Celtics got the ball to Tatum with 5.3 seconds remaining, enough time to get to the rim.

When the shot missed, the Rockets had one of their best wins of the season, one that might have been several games in the making.

Iso, Iso, baby With the Celtics switching defensively, the Rockets ran more iso offense than usual.

This is a good thing, something they should do more often.

The general impression is that iso is a bad offense, which is odd since many of the better offensive teams go one-on-one often. The other, even more prevailing narrative is that the Rockets just run iso all the time.

They don’t. Maybe they should.

The Rockets are in iso offense 13th most in the NBA. But a team that is 29th in offensive rating, they score the 14th most points per iso possession.

Some of that is because if they don’t pass it they cannot throw it away. It is one way to cut down on turnovers. The Rockets had just five in the first half, just one in the second quarter.

They moved the ball enough to put up 20 3s in the first half, more than they attempted in a game last week. Those were not entirely begun with oneon- one possessions. But the offense was better than usual in part because the Rockets ran more of the offense people think of as bad but more often turns out good.

Bari, Bari good Everything looks better when the shots go in, especially for someone that is a shooter.

Smith’s shots have been going in, no small consideration for a player that is expected to be a 3-and-D marksman and spent much of the season misfiring. But even before the shots found their mark on Monday — when he made all five of his 3s in the first half — he continued to look more confident and comfortable on both ends.

It says something about that confidence that the Rockets’ rookie seeks the toughest matchups and drew Celtics star Tatum. Tatum made just 3 of 12 shots in the first half, with many Rockets players taking turns on him. But Smith from the opening minutes aggressively looked for his shot, repositioning at times, never hesitating but not hurrying, either.

That could not have described his play when March began. But in his five games prior to Monday, Smith made 10 of 21 3-pointers. He had scored 30 points in Indiana and 20 against the Bulls, the first time he reached 20 in consecutive games in his career, and then nearly got there by halftime on Monday, scoring 17.

He topped 20 again with a baseline jumper with 5:40 left in the third quarter. It was also his third consecutive 20-point double-double. Before that run, he had one all season.

Garuba good

At some point, teams will respect Usman Garuba’s shot. They have not, yet.

He said no team has closed out on him to take away his 3-point shot. The Celtics did not, with Garuba knocking down consecutive 3s in the fourth quarter to help hold off a Boston run.

Garuba does not take many, but he went into Monday’s game hitting 55.3 percent and then added two more.

“For sure, the more they disrespect me, the more I will want to shoot it more,” Garuba said. “I will keep shooting it.

“They don’t want to adjust it, so I will keep shooting. That’s it.”

The Gahden, South

The Rockets’ name-brand homestand was certain to draw fans for the visiting teams. Only the Spurs come close to drawing the kind of crowds of their own fans as do the Celtics, Lakers and Warriors.

After the turnout of Boston fans on Monday, Lakers fans will have work to do to match the numbers the Celtics had in Toyota Center. The Lakers typically bring more than their share, though they won’t come close to the number of purple uniforms to match the green in Toyota Center. They do enjoy their rivalry with the Celtics, but the “Let’s Go Celtics” chant with 1:44 left echoed.