Aaron Brooks scored a game-high 24 points and hit a pair of big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to lead the Houston Rockets to a 108-102 win over the Celtics at Boston Monday night.

Brooks gave Houston (17-21) a 101-90 lead with a 3-pointer with 4:26 left to play. He hit another a minute later to extend the Rockets’ lead to 12 points.

Boston then scored eight straight points on 3-pointers by Ray Allen and Paul Pierce and a layup by Marquis Daniels but never got closer than four points the rest of the way.

Seven Houston players scored double figures in the game. Kyle Lowry had 17 points and had eight assists.

The Celtics played without forward Kevin Garnett, who missed his seventh straight game with a strained calf. Garnett is expected to return this week.

Allen and Daniels both finished with 19 points for Boston (28-9) which has lost two straight.

The Rockets, which snapped a five-game losing streak, led much of the way. They opened up a nine-point lead in the second quarter but Boston cut the deficit to 50-49 at the half.