2022 - 2023 POST GAME SACRAMENTO KINGS - AWAY

Celtics Wrap: Boston Runs Away From Upstart Kings To End Road Trip
The Celtics were in top form in Sacramento

NESN by Greg Dudek

The Boston Celtics concluded one of their longest road trips of the season by taking down the Sacramento Kings, 132-109, at the Golden 1 Center on Tuesday night.

The Celtics, who are now a full game ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers for second place in the Eastern Conference, improved their record to 50-23 while the Kings fell to 43-29.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
It had been a frustrating road trip at points for the Celtics, especially with inexplicable losses to the lowly Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz.

But against a Kings squad that doesn’t resemble what they’ve been in years past, the Celtics looked largely like themselves to emit a good feeling that they needed as they leave the West Coast.

Boston’s offense overshadowed the top-scoring offense in the league as the Celtics displayed pristine ball movement and only turned the ball over twice through three quarters. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were both aggressive, too, and the starting unit fed off of it with all five starters scoring in double figures.

The Celtics put up 40 points in the third quarter and didn’t fall into their bad habit of coughing up a double-digit lead. It sure will be good vibes on the plane ride home for the Celtics.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Tatum surely needed a bounce-back performance and he delivered one. A game after scoring just 15 points, the Celtics star netted a game-high 36 points on 14-for-25 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and four assists.


— Brown had a strong showing alongside Tatum as he tallied 27 points on 10-for-16 shooting while adding in five rebounds and four assists.


— Domantas Sabonis filled up the stat sheet for the Kings. The veteran big man posted a triple-double of 16 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists.

WAGER WATCH
FanDuel Sportsbook set Derrick White’s over/under assist total at 3.5 with +106 odds on the Over. White had no issues surpassing that mark as he accumulated 10 assists. A $100 wager on the prop bet would have netted a total of $206.

UP NEXT
The Celtics return to Boston for their first home game in over two weeks Friday when they host the Indiana Pacers. Tipoff from TD Garden is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

112288

Good game, 2 days off and having everyone finally back did wonders for us. Tatum and Brown looked like the better versions of themselves that we need. White was everywhere, doing everything a good complimentary player does, timely steals and scores. I like RWill coming off the bench, his size and game is needed and as long as he stays healthy, his game can only get stronger and better. No way we get past Bucks or Sixers without him. We actually won the rebounding battle by 1, despite Sabonis, not a coincidence as that had alot to do with the Timelord.

I like that Joe kept the rotation short, as everyone looked fresh after 2 days off. I hope Joe learns from his mistakes and doesn’t freeze White for a whole 4th quarter again. White is better offensively than Smart and as good as Brogdon. Read they were working on end of game offense, doesn’t always have to be Tatum and loved that we were going to Tatum a bunch of times in the post. That’s better winning basketball than the dreadful dribble dribble step back 3’s by Tatum.

Kings made us earn the win, they held their own most of first half, was exciting back and forth game. Good to know when we play like the better version of ourselves we can beat a good playoff team by 20 on their home court. Hope we can further build on this for stretch run.

Finally put together a complete game. It helps when you have all your weapons. Rob Williams makes such a difference on the defensive end, but I thought our D was solid the whole game. 4-2 road trip isn't bad. The two losses were by 2 points and 1 point with us having a shot on the final play. Should have beat Houston and a B2B in Utah with them having 5 days off was a tough spot. Have to build on this game now.

Celtics17 wrote:Finally put together a complete game. It helps when you have all your weapons. Rob Williams makes such a difference on the defensive end, but I thought our D was solid the whole game. 4-2 road trip isn't bad. The two losses were by 2 points and 1 point with us having a shot on the final play. Should have beat Houston and a B2B in Utah with them having 5 days off was a tough spot. Have to build on this game now.

I hope Joe learned something, we may not have been at our best, but a good coach has to make in game adjustments and still pull it out in those kind of games. If he was a little better, we really should have went 6-0 during this road trip. How do you not play White at all in the 4th quarter in a game with no Marcus Smart? Okay I’m done ranting

This one looked like a full game effort.

Win # 50

Currently second best in number of wins and winning % in the league

Despite a season-long banged up roster and a last-minute pre-season coaching change

Excellent results to this point

i feel the best is yet to come

The game is afoot!

If the Celtics can somehow capture the essence of the way they played last night and create a pregame smoothie out of the ingredients, look out.

If you are into analytics, what stood out the most for me was their 33 assists and only 6 turnovers.  That's a 5.5 ATO ratio.

I was glad to see Rob back in the mix and there were no lingering aspects of his hammy injury.  He moved well.

It would however be remiss not to express some level of disappointment with the 4-2 record on the trip.  Even with a few missing bodies the Celtics had a legit opportunity to sweep.
A 1 point loss to the Jazz and a 2 point loss to the Rockets is the difference in the Celtics being 3 games behind the Bucks in the loss column.  This entire season has produced a few too many losses against crappy teams.  There is no singularity to point to.  Injuries, underperformance by players and issues of game management by an inexperienced head coach, all played a factor in the results.

The 9 remaining games plus the one last night may provide another opportunity for the Celtics to reestablish their identity.  Let's see if they morph into a team preparing for a deep playoff run.

I AM A SIMPLE KIND OF GUY................JUST SHOW ME!

112288

dboss wrote:The game is afoot!

If the Celtics can somehow capture the essence of the way they played last night and create a pregame smoothie out of the ingredients, look out.

If you are into analytics, what stood out the most for me was their 33 assists and only 6 turnovers.  That's a 5.5 ATO ratio.

I was glad to see Rob back in the mix and there were no lingering aspects of his hammy injury.  He moved well.

It would however be remiss not to express some level of disappointment with the 4-2 record on the trip.  Even with a few missing bodies the Celtics had a legit opportunity to sweep.
A 1 point loss to the Jazz and a 2 point loss to the Rockets is the difference in the Celtics being 3 games behind the Bucks in the loss column.  This entire season has produced a few too many losses against crappy teams.  There is no singularity to point to.  Injuries, underperformance by players and issues of game management by an inexperienced head coach, all played a factor in the results.

The 9 remaining games plus the one last night may provide another opportunity for the Celtics to reestablish their identity.  Let's see if they morph into a team preparing for a deep playoff run.

So you had to mention smoothie's and turnovers on a day when I've had no time for lunch...

I agree that ATO ratio is a sign of good ball movement and understanding the defense you're facing. I still have observed a pattern of falling into taking shots earlier in the shot clock than needed. To me there is still a factor of poorly managed time, even more so than an over-reliance on deep shots and 3s. Make another pass, line 'em up better, and hit a couple more, IMO.

I do hope, as you state, that they're going to re-establish their earlier season identity here on the final stretch before the playoffs. I think, given health, they will.

They seem to be getting JT more touches in the post and elbows.  

Good defenses by opposing teams can thwart what you want to do.  It will require a higher level of discipline and physicality to win those battles.

At this point there is no turning back.  The Celtics are a 3 point shooting team.  They seem to shoot better when the ball is popping.  Plus they have high end off the bounce guys that can get buckets in the paint. As long as they share the ball they going to score.

What I most want to see is a consistent effort on defense to shut the other team.

The Bucks and Sixers game both on the road should tell us if the Celtics have what it takes to win.  As long as we are healthy our chances will be good.

Post Game Prosperity:

Great win and worth staying up late for. Everyone contributed. Derrick White appears to be getting better with every quarter he plays. Note: About half way through the 4th quarter-

Sean Grande: “I hate to poke the bear but still again no Derrick White”. Seconds later Derrick was back in the game and holding it down. Yay Dat, Joe! I’ve fallen in love.

Eddie House was on point the entire game. Weird, Scal called the game in Utah then flew back to Boston and then Eddie flew from Phoenix to do last nights game? Hmm. If this was 20 years ago when you’d go on vacation and come back only to find that your gig is gone I might be saying Scal better watch out. But this is 2023 and the Media is now controlled by bean counters. Trust me, Scal is working on the cheap so unfortunately he probably has nothing to worry about. One can only hope though.

Gotta admit that Sabonis looked damn good out there. I don’t recall him playing like that in Indiana. I don’t recall that perpetual grin he kept displaying either.

Rob looked great and even displayed some nastiness out there.

Post game Pettiness:

I loved it when Rob called Sabonis a “B*** A**”, and then preceded to wipe that s** eating grin off his face with a block.

A few observations from being at the game- we were in the lower bowl. When I was living in Florida, I didn't feel that being in the higher level seats made that much of a difference , if you were in thefirst 5 or 6 rows, but in SAC, the difference is enormous.( Last time we went, I ended up mistaking a guy who was rebounding during warmups for Tatum) I think ktron can attest to that, since he seems to be familiar with the arena. This is the first game I've actually attended this year.I usually watch on my fire stick. I was reminded how gratifying it is to actually see what everybody on the floor is doing, as opposed to the TV focus on the guy with the ball, and whoever is defending him. DWhite's mbility on D is amazing .He's moving nonstop, like 17 used to. In his own way, he's in the same category, in my opinion, as Smart. Most of y'all watched the game, so I'll limit my observations to a couple more things. Time Lord's legs are sticks. Could that have anything to do with his frequent injuries, Worcester? Finally, JT made normal layups and dunks. Not a single twisting finger roll that I can remember.Yay.Finally, one of the grandsons I went with plays college ball and he schooled me on some stuff I would ordinarily miss. Great experience all around.

I will always be of the old time belief….Being there is twice the fun!! For me it is ten times better. Good for you that you got to share this with a grandson, always fun to be with the younger generation!!! My son gets embarrassed when he goes with me, he is a quiet kid, loves basketball, but not crazy like his Mom.

RosalieTCeltics wrote:I will always be of the old time belief….Being there is twice the fun!! For me it is ten times better. Good for you that you got to share this with a grandson, always fun to be with the younger generation!!! My son gets embarrassed when he goes with me, he is a quiet kid, loves basketball, but not crazy like his Mom.

                    you cracked me up with that one. The passed out these miniature cowbells. I clacked them often enough, after Celtic scores,  to get a few looks, but Sacramento is pretty chill.