Boston Celtics can’t complete comeback, fall to Houston Rockets 115-104

The Boston Celtics overcame an entirely listless first half to make their Sunday afternoon tilt against the Houston Rockets a bit more interesting than expected. Kyrie Irving scored 24 points, Marcus Smart added 18 and Jaylen Brown played an incredible two-way game in the fourth quarter en route to 15 of his own, but they weren’t able to overcome 89 combined points from James Harden, Eric Gordon and Chris Paul, as the Rockets left TD Garden with a 115-104 win.

There’s no way to sugarcoat it: the first half was an absolute disaster for the Celtics on both ends of the court. They entered the break trailing 65-43, and the diagnosis was exceptionally simple: Boston shot 43% from the field while…