Four seconds left.

Amen Thompson catches the ball off of an inbound pass from Fred VanVleet.

Two seconds left.

He drives to the basket, slices past Jaylen Brown with a shifty euro and then hits a floater….

.7 seconds left.

Swish.

For the first time in his career, the Rockets guard dropped a career-high 33 points in their 114-112 win against the Boston Celtics on Monday night. In a game that went down to the buzzer (literally), Thompson combined with Dillon Books, who also had career high numbers with 36 points, including 10 threes (which tie a franchise record), for a menacing 69 points.

“That was my first game-winner,” Thompson in awe with a smile after the game while standing alongside Brooks. “I feel like Kobe.”

“I knew that mother—ker was going in,” Brooks said smiling back.

Despite efforts from Jaylen Brown, who had 28 points, and big man Luke Kornet, who finished with 18 points and had a crazy dunk, the Rockets executed in the final two possessions of the game, which included an in-bound pass to Alperen Sengun, who flew past Kornet for a dunk and Thompson’s game-winner.

Head coach Joe Mazulla told the media after the game that it was his error:

“Those last two plays were on me. Those are my fault,” he said per CLNS Media. “I 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 I put our guys in a tough spot. That’s a tough one because I thought our guys did everything to win the game and they put us in position to win it and I didn’t help them at the end. So, both those plays 100% on me.”

As for the Rockets, their dominance, which includes back-to-back wins against the top two teams in the Eastern Conference standings, the Cavaliers and now the Celtics, isn’t anything new. With one of the best defense in the League, and a roster full of versatility and grittiness, head coach Ime Udoka made it clear that Houston is just on a different level. It’s time for everyone else to catch up.

“We’re over halfway through now and our record is what it is, so it’s not just a fluke or anything,” Udoka said. “People watch film and see the physicality and the way that we play, it’s a little different than the rest of the league, maybe that catches people off guard initially, but I wouldn’t say we’re sneaking up on anybody anymore at this point in the season.”

The Rockets play the Hawks on Tuesday, followed by the Celtics taking on the Bulls on Wednesday.

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