Things Just Aren't Getting Any Better For The Celtics As They Lose To The Kings Once Again

 

    The Celtics (20-21 overall, 12-7 home) are in a really dark place right now as the losses continue to pile up. The scary part is there seems to be no end in sight as they can't find a way to beat some of the worst teams in the NBA. Tonight at the TD Garden, on a day when head coach Brad Stevens had to fend off more rumors that he's going to bolt to be the head coach at Indiana University any second now, his team once again came out flat and had to pay for it as they fell 107-96 to the Kings (17-24 overall, 8-12 away). Sacramento swept the two-game season series and you have to wonder what it will take to get through to these Celtics? This is simply not acceptable and no matter what the team's flaws are, they should not be in eighth-place in the Eastern Conference and a game under .500 this far into the season. 

    The Kings are in 11th place in the Western Conference but they looked like a playoff team the two times that they've met the Celts in this doomed campaign. Sacramento point guard De'Aaron Fox (game-high 29 points, 5 assists, 2 steals) was the best player on the court and he was followed closely by center Richaun Holmes (25 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals) who put together one of his best games as a pro. Small forward Harrison Barnes (15 points, 13 rebounds) another rumored trade target for the C's probably doesn't even want to come here at this juncture. Finally, shooting guard Buddy Hield (22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks) added his requisite solid outing whenever he plays the Celtics.

    Shooting guard Jaylen Brown (19 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals) led the C's in scoring despite not even reaching 20 points. Point guard Kemba Walker added 16 points and seven assists while swingman Jayson Tatum (15 points, 7 rebounds) is playing like he's still battling Covid-19 (and I don't say that to make light of the situation, only to point out how bad he's been lately for him). Center Daniel Theis put up 14 points and eight rebounds while center Robert Williams (12 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks) continues to be one of the only bright spots for this underachieving group. 

    If it's a big game and or one that they should win, you can bet that the Celtics will probably get off to a poor start. The Kings outscored them 28-22 in the first quarter and it was 55-45 Sacramento at halftime. Boston's one real push came in the third quarter as they took that 36-27 but nobody will ever remember that since they closed with a whimper (25-15 Kings in the 4th quarter). Gross. Sacramento shot 2.8% better from the field (45.7%-42.9%) than Boston, they attempted 19 more free throws (26-7) and hit 15 more of them (21-6) which is really hard to do in the NBA on the road. The Kings also blocked more than twice (9-4) as many shots as the Celtics. 

        The C's will try to snap this three-game losing streak on Sunday afternoon (3:30, NBC Sports Boston) as they host another non-playoff team-the Magic (14-27 overall, 5-14 road). Boston has three games between now and Thursday-the NBA Trade Deadline. Not for the sake of this season but at least for the future, I have to hope that GM Danny Ainge will do something to improve this painfully mismatched team. Tatum and Brown are too good to be having such a mediocre season, maybe bring in a veteran leader that they can lean on? Otherwise, what are we doing here? A small number of fans will be able to return to the Garden a week from Monday but honestly, who wants to watch these losers in the middle of a pandemic? Talk about wasting your money, you can definitely find a better activity than that without even trying that hard.

As Currently Constructed, The Reality Is That The Celtics Are Just Not A Very Good Basketball Team

 

    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.