NBA fans were treated to a glimpse of what could be this year's NBA Finals as the Houston Rockets hosted the Boston Celtics on Saturday, and if the Finals end the same way which this game did, it certainly would be enjoyable to watch.

The Rockets narrowly defeated the Celtics 123-120 at the Toyota Center in Houston last night, with Eric Gordon scoring 29 points off the bench, Trevor Ariza scoring 21 points, and James Harden having a double-double outing, scoring 26 points with seven rebounds and 10 assists.

Houston's winning streak extended to 15 games with their win over Boston on Saturday, but the visitors came close to sending the game into overtime as the final buzzer sounded, but unfortunately for them, the rim of the basket came into play.

With the ball on his own base line and with just over two seconds remaining in the game, Celtics' Marcus Morris almost threw the ball the length of the court towards his teammate Marcus Smart, who was positioned on the left side of the Rockets' three-point line.

Upon receiving the ball, Smart immediately turned his body and took a shot at the basket for three. Unfortunately for the Boston player though, the ball hit the rim of the basket as the buzzer sounded, confirming that Houston's winning streak would continue.

If this was a glimmer of what's to come later this year, this would definitely be an emotional way to end the NBA Finals. Most of the players and coaches involved in the game came to the conclusion that defense played a huge part in the outcome of this game.

"Eric Gordon was huge," Houston's coach Mike D'Antoni said after the game to ESPN: "I think we forget how good he is defensively and (with) everything he does."

Boston's coach Brad Stevens said: "I just thought they maximized more possessions than we did. Those were two good teams playing and both teams deserve a lot of credit for how they played."

Harden even felt that Saturday's game felt like a playoff game, as he said: "Yeah, every game from here on out is going to be a playoff game, playoff atmosphere, playoff intensity, physicality, everything. So, we're going to treat it like it is."

The Celtics will look to get back to their winning ways when they travel to Chicago to take on the Bulls on Monday, while the Rockets will be hoping they can continue their winning streak when they visit Oklahoma City to play against the Thunder on Tuesday.