WALTHAM — The Celtics had clawed back from a 19-point deficit against the Houston Rockets on Friday night, and suddenly hope began to flow through TD Garden.
When Jared Sullinger caught the ball along the left side of the 3-point arc with 4 minutes, 13 seconds left, the Celtics — improbably — had a chance to tie the score. And then anything would have been possible. Sullinger had time to square up, time to think, time to measure. And then his shot swirled so far to the right of the rim that it was fair to wonder if someone had opened a door onto Causeway Street on the blustery night.
Sullinger missed two more 3-pointers over the next three minutes, and the Celtics’ comeback fell short in the 93-87 loss.
“Yesterday was a rough stretch for me, inside and out,” Sullinger said after practice on Saturday. “I’m just looking for a new day.”
Amid this franchise’s search for an identity, Sullinger has accepted added responsibilities. He possesses a unique skill set for a 260-pound forward, but his long-range touch has abandoned him recently.
Over the last six games, Sullinger is just 4 for 24 from beyond the arc. Coach Brad Stevens cautioned against gleaning too much from small sample sizes in an 82-game season. He had no issue with Sullinger continuing to fire away during Friday’s crucial stretch, despite his struggles.
“He was wide open on two of them, so absolutely,” Stevens said. “At those times you have to judge, what better shots are you going to get? I think certainly a wide-open shot for one of our best scorers, it’s hard to beat.”
Sullinger said that Stevens has asked him to shoot more. Stevens said his instructions were not quite that direct, but he insisted that Sullinger’s versatility is valuable.
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“We’re just trying to put him in more spots,” Stevens said. “Obviously, we’re trying to get him to score on the block, get him to score facing up, get him to score from the perimeter.
“When you look at our first group as far as guys that can create a play with others on a consistent basis, he’s up there. And so like anything else, there’s going to be some new things for him. At the end of the day he’s one of our better players, so the more we can do for him, the better.”
Of course, when the opportunities arise, Sullinger will need to convert. The Celtics ended Saturday’s practice with some extended shooting drills, and Sullinger said he generally spends extra time in the gym alone when he needs to regain his touch.
“I might not be in a full sweat, but just shoot until it feels comfortable again,” he said. “Sometimes it just takes like your first five shots and sometimes it takes an hour and 30 minutes. It’s how comfortable I feel with my jump shot.”
Harden off the mark
In the loss to the Rockets, the Celtics held James Harden, the NBA’s scoring leader, to 4-for-21 shooting. The field goal percentage (.190) was his lowest this season in a game in which he has attempted at least 10 shots. Rookie Marcus Smart guarded Harden for stretches and approached the assignment with a plan.
“Just to keep my hands back guarding him,” Smart said. “Everybody knows he shoots a heavy amount of free throws because he draws the contact and he gets those calls, so I just tried to keep him in front of me and show my hands, and I think I did very well on that part.”
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Smart was frustrated about being whistled for an offensive foul for kicking his leg out before draining a fourth-quarter 3-pointer.
“When I’m shooting and they slap my hand back, all my momentum forces my body to come forward,” he said, “so that forces my legs to get kicked out.”
Smart acknowledged that the referee did not exactly buy his argument.
Planning ahead
With another snowstorm — sigh — expected to hit Boston on Monday, the Celtics might travel to New York on Sunday to get settled before Tuesday’s game against the Knicks. The obvious conflict on Sunday is the Super Bowl. But Stevens said the Celtics would be sure not to miss it.
“Whatever we do, if we go early or we go after, we’ll go around the game,” Stevens said.
Olynyk not ready
Stevens said Kelly Olynyk (ankle) will be out for at least another week, and that he doesn’t expect him to return until after the All-Star break. Olynyk was selected to play in the Rising Stars Challenge on Feb. 13 during All-Star Weekend. Stevens said Olynyk would only play if he was healthy enough to play a regular-season game . . . Rookie James Young was reassigned to the Maine Red Claws on Saturday and he scored 33 points in a loss to Fort Wayne.
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Follow Adam Himmelsbach on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.