The Boston Celtics have acquitted themselves well in their recent run of cross-conference matchups, winning three of four games against Western Conference opponents to start 2025. Against an upstart Sacramento Kings squad — winners of five in a row entering play — though, they seemed to run out of steam. What was a competitive game through three quarters fell apart in the fourth, as the Celtics were blitzed by the Kings to the tune of 38 fourth quarter points, leading to a 114-97 loss.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 28 points, and Kristaps Porzingis added 22. As a whole, however, there wasn’t much punch to Boston’s offense tonight. They shot just 40% from the floor, and cashed in on only 11 of their 41 three-pointers on the night. On Sacramento’s side, the Celtics had no answer for a dominant night from Domantas Sabonis. Hescored an efficient 23 points and flirted with a 30-rebound night, grabbing 28 — the first player since Kevin Love in 2011 to grab at least 25 boards against the Celtics. DeMar DeRozan struggled early, but cashed in crucial buckets in the fourth en route to a team-high 24 points of his own.
The Cookies and Cream connection carried the load for the Celtics in the early going of this one. Brown and Porzingis scored the Celtics’ first 18 points of the game, spanning eight straight minutes before Luke Kornet finally chipped in a two-pointer. The duo’s hot start was mitigated by a quiet start from the rest of the lineup — no other Celtic recorded more than one made basket in the first quarter. On the other side, the Kings raced out to eight early made threes (18 attempts), and had Boston on their heels to the tune of a 34-27 lead after the opening frame.
Fortunes turned quickly as play resumed in the second quarter. The Celtics took the court and immediately looked like a different team, rattling off a 16-5 run across the first six minutes of the frame to regain control of the lead. Boston locked in defensively, and Sacramento’s offense largely collapsed, with a particularly brutal first half from DeRozan (3-of-13 from the field) helping to sink their shooting percentage down below the 40% threshold. The Celtics didn’t shoot much better (41%), though, and they weren’t able to parlay their early run into a more sizeable lead. They settled for a two-point advantage at the halftime break, leading 55-53 with 24 minutes left to play.
Coming off of arguably his best game this season on Tuesday against Denver, Porzingis continued to be a bright spot for the Celtics tonight. He totaled 22 points for the game, and deserves a lot of credit for powering the Boston offense through its sporadic dry spells. Most encouraging was the return of his three-point jumper — he cashed in on four of his seven attempts against the Kings, his most prolific shooting in a game this season. The Latvian center has looked strong in each of his past three outings, which undoubtedly bode well for the Celtics as the New Year gets underway.
Play resumed after the halftime break, and the two teams found themselves mired in a stalemate. They matched each other point-for-point for the entirety of the quarter, with the score remaining within two possessions for all but a few brief moments. The consistent thorn in Boston’s side was Sabonis, who was nothing short of dominant on the glass on both ends of the court. He piled up a whopping 23 rebounds through three quarters of play, including seven offensive boards that led to crucial second-chance points for Sacramento. The Kings edged past the Celtics by two points in the frame, leading to a 76-all heading into the final quarter of regulation.
A pair of Devin Carter threes opened the fourth quarter with the scales in Sacramento’s favor. A few moments later, Sabonis’ 24th rebound of the game (eight offensive) led to his third three-pointer, and Joe Mazzulla called for timeout with his team on the wrong end of an 11-3 run over the first three minutes of the quarter. On the other end of the break, things continued to spiral. Keegan Murray cashed in on a three and DeRozan hit one of his signature mid-range jumpers, and Sacramento established their biggest lead of the night at 11 points with just under eight minutes to play. Before long, the run hit 21-7 in favor of the Kings, and it felt as if it were nearing the point of no return.
After another Mazzulla timeout, Brown attempted to inject some energy. He sliced to the basket for a layup, and after a rare DeRozan three-pointer, he drew a foul in the corner to take the line for three free throws. After that, he traded tough finishes in the paint with DeRozan to keep the game at a 12-point advantage for Sacramento. Ultimately, though, they just didn’t have enough juice for the comeback. Crucial shots fell short on the front rim, and Sabonis slammed down a dunk with two minutes remaining to cap off the Sacramento win.
Next up, the Celtics will host another Western Conference foe on their home court at TD Garden, matching up with the New Orleans Pelicans this Sunday at 7 PM EST on NBC Sports Boston.
