The Boston Celtics have acquitted themselves effectively of their current run of cross-conference matchups, profitable three of 4 video games in opposition to Western Convention opponents to begin 2025. In opposition to an upstart Sacramento Kings squad — winners of 5 in a row coming into play — although, they appeared to expire of steam. What was a aggressive sport by three quarters fell aside within the fourth, because the Celtics have been blitzed by the Kings to the tune of 38 fourth quarter factors, resulting in a 114-97 loss.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 28 factors, and Kristaps Porzingis added 22. As an entire, nonetheless, there wasn’t a lot punch to Boston’s offense tonight. They shot simply 40% from the ground, and cashed in on solely 11 of their 41 three-pointers on the night time. On Sacramento’s facet, the Celtics had no reply for a dominant night time from Domantas Sabonis. Hescored an environment friendly 23 factors and flirted with a 30-rebound night time, grabbing 28 — the primary participant since Kevin Love in 2011 to seize a minimum of 25 boards in opposition to the Celtics. DeMar DeRozan struggled early, however cashed in essential buckets within the fourth en path to a team-high 24 factors of his personal.
The Cookies and Cream connection carried the load for the Celtics within the early going of this one. Brown and Porzingis scored the Celtics’ first 18 factors of the sport, spanning eight straight minutes earlier than Luke Kornet lastly chipped in a two-pointer. The duo’s scorching begin was mitigated by a quiet begin from the remainder of the lineup — no different Celtic recorded a couple of made basket within the first quarter. On the opposite facet, the Kings raced out to eight early made threes (18 makes an attempt), and had Boston on their heels to the tune of a 34-27 lead after the opening body.
Fortunes turned shortly as play resumed within the second quarter. The Celtics took the court docket and instantly regarded like a distinct group, rattling off a 16-5 run throughout the primary six minutes of the body to regain management of the lead. Boston locked in defensively, and Sacramento’s offense largely collapsed, with a very brutal first half from DeRozan (3-of-13 from the sphere) serving to to sink their capturing proportion down beneath the 40% threshold. The Celtics didn’t shoot a lot better (41%), although, and so they weren’t capable of parlay their early run right into a extra sizeable lead. They settled for a two-point benefit on the halftime break, main 55-53 with 24 minutes left to play.
Coming off of arguably his finest sport this season on Tuesday in opposition to Denver, Porzingis continued to be a vivid spot for the Celtics tonight. He totaled 22 factors for the sport, and deserves loads of credit score for powering the Boston offense by its sporadic dry spells. Most encouraging was the return of his three-point jumper — he cashed in on 4 of his seven makes an attempt in opposition to the Kings, his most prolific capturing in a sport this season. The Latvian heart has regarded sturdy in every of his previous three outings, which undoubtedly bode effectively for the Celtics because the New 12 months will get underway.
Play resumed after the halftime break, and the 2 groups discovered themselves mired in a stalemate. They matched one another point-for-point for everything of the quarter, with the rating remaining inside two possessions for all however a number of temporary moments. The constant thorn in Boston’s facet was Sabonis, who was nothing wanting dominant on the glass on each ends of the court docket. He piled up a whopping 23 rebounds by three quarters of play, together with seven offensive boards that led to essential second-chance factors for Sacramento. The Kings edged previous the Celtics by two factors within the body, resulting in a 76-all heading into the ultimate quarter of regulation.
A pair of Devin Carter threes opened the fourth quarter with the scales in Sacramento’s favor. A number of moments later, Sabonis’ twenty fourth rebound of the sport (eight offensive) led to his third three-pointer, and Joe Mazzulla known as for timeout together with his group on the fallacious finish of an 11-3 run over the primary three minutes of the quarter. On the opposite finish of the break, issues continued to spiral. Keegan Murray cashed in on a 3 and DeRozan hit certainly one of his signature mid-range jumpers, and Sacramento established their largest lead of the night time at 11 factors with just below eight minutes to play. Earlier than lengthy, the run hit 21-7 in favor of the Kings, and it felt as if it have been nearing the purpose of no return.
After one other Mazzulla timeout, Brown tried to inject some power. He sliced to the basket for a layup, and after a uncommon DeRozan three-pointer, he drew a foul within the nook to take the road for 3 free throws. After that, he traded robust finishes within the paint with DeRozan to maintain the sport at a 12-point benefit for Sacramento. Finally, although, they only didn’t have sufficient juice for the comeback. Essential pictures fell quick on the entrance rim, and Sabonis slammed down a dunk with two minutes remaining to cap off the Sacramento win.
Subsequent up, the Celtics will host one other Western Convention foe on their dwelling court docket at TD Backyard, matching up with the New Orleans Pelicans this Sunday at 7 PM EST on NBC Sports activities Boston.
