Rockets hand struggling Celtics narrow defeat

BOSTON (Reuters) - Struggling NBA champions Boston Celtics suffered their third straight defeat after Houston Rockets edged them 89-85 at home on Wednesday.

Houston guard Von Wafer made a go-ahead three-pointer with 43 seconds left and Yao Ming added two of his team-high 26 in the final seconds to clinch victory.

The Celtics entered the contest having lost five road games in their last seven contests, but the holders could not find any solace at home either.

"In our last timeout, you could see it in our guys' eyes. Like 'shoot, we're going to lose a home game,'" Celtics coach Doc Rivers told reporters. "It bothered them. I was thinking, 'that's a good thing'."

Paul Pierce led the way with 26 points for the Celtics (29-8), who scored a season-low 11 points in the fourth quarter to let the Rockets snap a three-game slide and avoid losing six successive road games for the first time since 2001-02.

Playing without shooting guard Tracy McGrady, who has played intermittently because of a knee injury, Houston relied on 19 points from point guard Aaron Brooks and 17 from big offseason acquisition Ron Artest.

Artest had missed his last two games with an ankle ailment and the team was without forward Shane Battier, who has missed the last five games because of a foot injury.

Houston (22-15) began the season as title contenders but have yet to display that level of play, beset by injuries besides disappointing starts to the season from leaders McGrady and Artest.

"When you launch a rocket, you will not go (from) zero to 100 miles (per hour) in one second," Yao said. "We need to turn it up. But when is the start?

"Every game can be a start."

Boston blazed to a franchise-best 27-2 start this year including a 19-game winning streak, but have sputtered to six defeats in eight games starting with a Christmas Day setback against Los Angeles Lakers.

Kevin Garnett scored 18 points with eight rebounds as the Celtics took a 74-71 advantage through three quarters before surrendering the game.

(Reporting by Jahmal Corner, editing by N.Ananthanarayanan)