Save the excuses, like every other team in the NBA doesn't face the exact same obstacles that the Celtics (11-9 overall, 6-6 away) dealt with tonight at the Golden 1 Center against the Kings (10-11 overall, 6-6 home) who beat them 116-111. It was the second night of a back-to-back for Boston and they were missing guards Marcus Smart (calf), Kemba Walker (load management) and Payton Pritchard (knee). Still, no matter who they put out on the floor, they should find a way to beat a nothing team like Sacramento. Instead, they are left to ponder what went wrong as they got outscored 35-29 in the fourth quarter when point guard De'Aaron Fox (team-high 26 points, 11 assists, 2 steals) took over the game in favor of the home team with 13 points in the final frame.
In the back of my mind, I knew that this was going to happen because for whatever weird reason, Sacramento has always given them tough games for the last few years even though they usually stink. Small forward Harrison Barnes (24 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds) played about as well as he ever does, shooting guard Buddy Hield (15 points, 11 rebounds) had a rare double-double and rookie guard Tyrese Haliburton (career-high 21 points, 2 steals) was awesome off the bench in 30 minutes. For the Celtics, swingman Jayson Tatum (game-high 27 points, 10 assists, 9 rebounds, 2 steals) just missed his first career triple-double and shooting guard Jaylen Brown (21 points) showed up too. Power forward Tristan Thompson (17 points, 10 rebounds in 22 minutes) put together his best game as a Celtic but oddly enough barely played at all in the fourth quarter. Center Daniel Theis (11 points) was the only other player on Boston to score in double figures.
Jeff Teague (7 points on 1-of-6 shooting) flopped in his spot start at point guard and Tremont Waters (3 points, 5 assists) wasn't much better at spelling him off the bench. Thanks mostly to Haliburton, Sacramento's bench outscored Boston's 35-28 which was predictable given who was in street clothes for the C's. Power forward Grant Williams made an important 3-pointer in the fourth quarter and center Robert Williams (9 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals) was good in limited minutes but Boston has too many borderline G-League guys taking up space on their roster. Unless you have LeBron James and Anthony Davis like the Lakers do, every other top NBA team needs a Big 3. With Kemba in his hobbled state (not to mention how up and down he's been when he has played), the Celts don't really have that much outside of Tatum and Brown who are both fantastic (Charles Barkley voice).
Boston led 26-22 after the first quarter but Sacramento answered to take a one-point (52-51) advantage into halftime. The Celtics outscored the Kings by a single basket (31-29) in the third quarter so it all came down to the fourth quarter where the Celtics typically wilt under pressure. As you can probably guess, most of the stats were very similar. Sacramento hit two more 3-pointers (13-11), they had three less turnovers (13-10) and they scored five more second chance points (16-11) than Boston. It certainly doesn't get any easier for the Celtics on this five-game West Coast road trip as they visit the Clippers (17-6) on Friday (10, ESPN) at the Staples Center. LA is one of the best teams in the league and their duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George is a better and more experienced version of Tatum and Brown. Walker will be back and hopefully Pritchard will be available too, since the C's can use all the help that they can get at the moment.
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