Clearly Rajon Rondo Was Holding The Celtics Back, Haha Just Kidding!

Nobody really knows what to expect from the Celtics without Rondo for the rest of this season but in the meantime, they won their second straight game since his injury. Boston (22-23, 15-9 home) rolled 99-81 over lifeless Sacramento (17-30, 5-18 away) tonight at TD Garden. Six Celtics scored in double figures as they avenged an inexplicable 22-point loss (118-96) to the Kings on December 30 in Sacramento.

The only downside is that rookie Jared Sullinger left after only four minutes (he started) with back spasms. Trouble with his back is supposedly one of the main reasons why he dropped to No. 21 in last summer's NBA draft. Apparently, it wasn't too serious though and he's listed as day-to-day. The C's won because of an incredible second quarter where they outscored the Kings 37-14. It was Boston's highest scoring frame of the season thus far and it made up for Sacramento outscoring them 67-62 in the other three quarters.

Paul Pierce led Boston with 16 points and 10 rebounds, Kevin Garnett had 13 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two blocks, Avery Bradley put up 11 points, five rebounds and three steals while Brandon Bass (3 steals), Jeff Green and Jason Terry each notched 12 points off the bench.

Tyreke Evans is healthy for the moment and he paced the Kings with 19 points, 11 rebounds and three steals. DeMarcus Cousins had 13 points and six rebounds while Thomas Robinson scored 11 points off the bench. You gotta love the dimwit Celtics writers that saw Cousins play only twice this season and said the exact opposite thing each time: in December, "get him!" Now, "they don't need/want him." Haha ok then.

The Celts have a great opportunity to get back to .500 and gain more confidence on Friday (7:30 p.m., CSN) as they host the Magic (14-31, 3rd in Southeast Division). Orlando lost 113-97 tonight in New York and even worse, former Celtic Glen Davis (15.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg) broke his foot. Boston won at Orlando 116-110 in overtime back on November 25.

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Remember when the Sacramento Kings were one of the NBA's model franchises?

It seems like only yesterday that the Sacramento Kings played one of the NBA's most exciting styles of basketball and the Maloof brothers were loving life. Haha, I think one of them even dated Britney Spears for a second before she got prego and crazy.

For much of the last decade though, the Kings have been an afterthought. Since they're in one of the NBA's worst markets, it makes sense that once the product went downhill so did the profits.

The Boston Celtics toyed with the Kings last night in Sacramento but ultimately pulled out a 95-90 win which gave them a satisfactory 3-1 West Coast trip.

Sacramento (12-34) is still awful but at least now they have two potential franchise players: Tyreke Evans (20 points) and DeMarcus Cousins (20 points).

The Celts (37-11) are a much better TEAM and this was the typical game against a young team where they look good for the first two or three quarters and then they self-destruct in winning time.

Ray Allen led Boston with 22 points (he's having his best season yet with the Green, dude is ageless), Rajon Rondo had 17 points, 10 assists and four steals, Paul Pierce scored 15 and Kevin Garnett added 12 points and seven rebounds.

Off the bench for the Cs, Glen Davis (14 points), Kendrick Perkins (8 points, 10 rebounds)-who will be starting any day now-and Nate Robinson (5 steals) stood out.

Donte Greene had 15 points off the bench for the Kings and Beno Udrih added 12 points. Evans and Cousins are both intriguing prospects. Evans is a great athlete and so big but he can't really shoot. Cousins has all the ability in the world but he seems like he doesn't work hard at all and doesn't want to play in the post.

Boston led 27-20 after the first quarter and it looked like it would be a laugher. Of course, the Kings followed that with what had to be one of the their best quarters of the season (34-18) to take a 54-45 halftime lead. The Celts flexed their muscles in the third quarter (29-17) and held on in the fourth (21-19). With that, they earned another night in Sacramento since we're getting more Snowpocalypse in New England.

Things will heat up whenever they get home since the Celtics host the Dallas Mavericks on Friday and the Orlando Magic on Sunday. Should be two great games.

The bench comes alive for the Celtics

There was an endless amount of story lines surrounding the Boston Celtics as they began the last 30 games of the season last night in Sacramento.

Most pertinent, it was the last game before the trade deadline (which is tomorrow afternoon) so was this the last time we'll see Ray Allen, Eddie House, Tony Allen or Glen Davis in a Celtics uniform?

Will the C's improve or continue to struggle against good teams, building up to the inevitable second round loss in the playoffs this spring?

The good news for one night was that they won 95-92 against a very green Kings (18-35) team featuring the favored rookie of the year, Tyreke Evans (17 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists).

Paul Pierce had 17 points for the Celts (33-18) and Ray Allen scored 15 points but Rajon Rondo (4 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists), Kevin Garnett (9 points, 9 rebounds) and Kendrick Perkins (6 points, 5 rebounds) were all invisible.

So how did they win you ask? Boston's bench had perhaps its finest performance of the season as they 44 points, led by Rasheed Wallace (17 points), Eddie House (12 points), Marquis Daniels (7 points, 6 rebounds) and Glen Davis (6 points, 8 rebounds).

Games like that will be rare but if the Celtics stand still at the trade deadline, those bench players will need to all bring their games up to gloss over KG, Ray and Perk.

Omri Casspi led the Kings with 19 points, Jason Thompson added 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks off the bench while Kevin Martin (another constant trade rumor) was held to 11 points.

The game was tight throughout, with the teams tied at 30 after one quarter and the Celts holding a slim 57-52 halftime lead.

Boston didn't fall apart in the third (19-17) and made enough free throws down the stretch to offset the 3-pointers Sacramento kept hitting.

The four game West Coast trip gets real for the next three games as Boston goes to the Staples Center tomorrow night for a TNT game with the Lakers, Portland on Friday and Denver on Sunday afternoon. Honestly, two wins out of those three would be a miracle considering LA and Denver are the West's two best teams and the Blazers are fighting for a playoff spot.