BOSTON — The Celtics had two opportunities to get stops against the Rockets at the end of regulation. Get at least one stop on two chances and the C’s would force the game to overtime against a red-hot Rockets team.

But both times, the C’s had miscues. They couldn’t get those stops as there were defensive breakdowns on both plays in their 114-112 loss to the Rockets. While it looked like there were issues from the players, C’s coach Joe Mazzulla said he took “100%” of the blame for the late-game execution.

“Those last two plays were on me,” Mazzulla said. “Those were my fault. It didn’t put us in the best matchups. I saw the play that they were trying to run. I tried to change the matchups. They put our guys in a tough spot. So 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.”

Initially, it looked like the Celtics didn’t execute in crunch-time. The first mistake came when Alperen Sengun had a free lane to the bucket after Luke Kornet overcommitted on a cut. After Jayson Tatum scored the game-tying layup, the C’s had renewed life. But on their second chance, a miscommunication on a late switch between Kornet and Jaylen Brown led to Amen Thompson scoring the game-winning bucket.

The Celtics saw their 12-point fourth-quarter lead vanish as the Rockets just kept up the pressure. Thompson had a career-high 33 points along with 10 rebounds — his two-way play was on full display Monday. Plus, league-wide villain Dillon Brooks poured in 36 points on 10-for-15 3-point shooting as he goaded the crowd after each one of his makes from deep.

But the spotlight will be on those two final defensive plays. The Celtics couldn’t get the stops when they needed them as they dropped to 32-15 on the season. The Rockets improved to 31-14 for their third straight win, which includes the Celtics and two victories over the first-place Cavaliers.

“We just didn’t have the matchups right,” Mazzulla said. “They showed us the play and I tried to just get the best possible people on to play in order for us to defend it with only five seconds left, and their ability to drive. And I did it too late and it put our guys in a tough spot. So our guys played great for 48 minutes, or 47 minutes and 30 seconds, and I didn’t help them close it at the end. So I have to be better.”

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