=== Celtics entertain McHale, Rockets ===
 
 (Sports  Network)  - A  pair of  hot teams  meet Friday  night when the Boston
 Celtics  welcome an old friend back to town, although he's guiding the Houston
 Rockets.
 
 Kevin  McHale,  a Hall of  Famer who played his  entire career with the Boston
 Celtics  and had  his number  32 retired,  is back  as the  head coach  of the
 Rockets, winners in five of their last six.
 
 When  the Celtics fell  to the Rockets on Dec. 14, it was shortly after McHale
 returned  to  the bench following  the death of  his daughter Sasha. After the
 game,  Kevin Garnett came  over to McHale, the man who drafted him when he ran
 the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the two shared an emotional embrace.
 
 It should be a little more business-like on Friday.
 
 The Celtics have won four straight, including an 87-79 victory Wednesday night
 at  home  over the  Phoenix Suns.  That started a  five-game homestand for the
 Celtics.
 
 The  starters  struggled against the  Suns with only Garnett in double-digits.
 Jared Sullinger and Jason Terry netted double figures off the bench and so did
 Jeff Green.
 
 It was a special day for Green as Wednesday marked the one-year anniversary of
 his open-heart surgery.
 
 "I  can't put it  into words. I mean, it's a wonderful day. I had a good game,
 I'm just glad to be here," he said.
 
 The Rockets' five-game winning streak was snapped Wednesday at the New Orleans
 Hornets  in the first of a three-game road trip which ends on Saturday against
 the Philadelphia 76ers.
 
 The  Rockets are  the NBA's leading scoring  team at 106 ppg. They were held a
 whopping  27  points under their  average by a Hornets  team, which is 12th in
 opponents' scoring.
 
 Houston committed 23 turnovers and allowed 16 offensive rebounds.
 
 "Anytime  a team gets  that many offensive rebounds it's hard to run. Then you
 have  all  those turnovers  we had  - they  had 39  of their  88 points off of
 offensive  rebounds  or turnovers,"  said  McHale.  "We  were just  not  sharp
 tonight.  We didn't make  the extra pass, defensively we didn't do what we had
 to do."
 
 James Harden was the only Rockets player in double figures with 25 points.
 
 The  Rockets  have won five  of their last seven  against the Celtics and have
 taken three of their last four visits to Beantown.
 
 01/11 10:42:05 ET