Celtics blown out in fourth quarter in ugly home loss to Kings

Zack Cox, Boston Herald on Jan 10, 2025

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BOSTON — A competitive game Friday night turned ugly late for the Celtics, who were run off their home floor by the short-handed Sacramento Kings.

The Kings, who were playing without injured leading scorer De’Aaron Fox, outscored Boston by 17 points in the fourth quarter en route to a 114-97 win at TD Garden. The teams were tied entering the fourth.

Sacramento got a herculean rebounding performance from star center Domantas Sabonis, whose 28 boards were the most by a Celtics opponent since Ben Wallace matched that total in March 2002. Sabonis also scored 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting for the Kings, who also got 24 points from DeMar DeRozan and 22 from Malik Monk.

Jaylen Brown led all Celtics scorers with 28 points, with Kristaps Porzingis adding 22 and 10 rebounds. Jayson Tatum notched a double-double with 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists but was responsible for eight of Boston’s 15 turnovers.

The Celtics also got just five total points from their top guard tandem of Derrick White and Jrue Holiday, who were a combined 1 for 8 from 3-point range. The C’s shot 26.8% from 3 as a team.

Boston will look to bounce back Sunday against the lowly New Orleans Pelicans, who own the NBA’s second-worst record.

Brown went to work down low in the opening minutes, repeatedly attacking the paint with post-ups. He made five first-quarter field goals, and all of them were within five feet of the basket.

That’s been Brown’s M.O. of late. Of the 20 shots he made over his previous three games, just one came from outside the paint (a corner 3 against Oklahoma City) and 13 were inside the restricted area.

The Celtics started shaky from 3-point range, however, and that staked Sacramento an early lead. The Kings doubled up Boston’s output from 3 in the first quarter (8 for 18 to 4 for 14) and led by as many as 10. Tatum finished the quarter with more turnovers (two) than made field goals (1 for 5).

Boston began to build momentum late in the first thanks to its bench. Payton Pritchard (11 points) hit a 3, and Sam Hauser blocked a would-be buzzer-beater at the other end. The Celtics then scored the first seven points of the second quarter, with Pritchard’s midrange fadeaway pulling them even at 34-34.

Pritchard scored nine first-half points despite going just 1 for 5 from beyond the arc. On one of his baskets, he settled in the dunker spot and received a well-timed entry pass from Luke Kornet.

Porzingis was the Celtics’ most consistent long-range shooter in the first half, going 3 for 5 from distance while his teammates went 3 for 20. Boston led 55-53 at halftime.

Boston’s starting center hit another 3-pointer 45 seconds into the second half, and Brown, Holiday and Tatum all followed suit shortly thereafter. Tatum’s triple gave the Celtics their largest lead of the game, 72-63, with 6:51 to play in the third.

But the Celtics’ all-NBA superstar was sloppy with the ball in the third quarter, committing five more turnovers, and Boston had no answer on the glass for Sabonis, who tied the highest single game-rebound total in the NBA this season (23 by Victor Wembanyama) with nearly 18 minutes remaining.

Sacramento tied the game with 32 seconds left in the third, then surged ahead with a fourth-quarter flurry keyed by Providence College product Devin Carter. Carter, the 13th overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft, drilled 3s on back-to-back Kings possessions to open the final frame, then followed a pair of Porzingis free throws with a driving layup.

The nadir for Boston’s defense came two minutes later. A botched defensive rotation left Monk wide open for a 3. Monk missed, but Sabonis gathered the long rebound. When Holiday backed away from him and Porzingis lingered near the lane, Sabonis let one fly, too. His 3 hit, putting Sacramento ahead 87-79.

The Kings kept pushing from there, stretching their lead to 15 points with a Keegan Murray 3 that sent some Celtics fans heading toward the exits with more than six minutes to go. Mazzulla yanked his starters with 2:08 remaining and Sacramento up 14.