What we learned as Domas’ historic play fueled Kings past Celtics originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
BOX SCORE
Domantas Sabonis scored 23 points and grabbed a career-high — and Sacramento-era record — 28 rebounds, and the streaking Kings continued to roll under interim coach Doug Christie with a 114-97 win over the Celtics in Boston on Friday night at TD -garden.
It was Sabonis’ 33rd double-double in 35 games this season and the 366e of his career, fifth in the NBA since 2016-17.
The win, the Kings’ sixth straight, moved the club back to .500. It is Sacramento’s first win in Boston since March 19, 2021.
And they did so without point guard De’Aaron Fox, who was left out for the third time in a row due to a gluteal muscle contusion.
DeMar DeRozan shook off a tough shooting night and scored 24 points. Malik Monk had 22 points and eight assists, Keegan Murray scored 19 while rookie Devin Carter added 11 points and four rebounds.
The game was close for the first three quarters until the Kings pulled away in the fourth quarter.
That was perhaps the biggest difference between them under Christie and Mike Brown. Instead of digging into big holes or letting late leads slip away, the Kings do their best work in crunch time.
Here are the takeaways from the Kings’ win in Boston:
Kfrom the shelves
Sabonis, the reigning NBA champion, is making a strong run to repeat as Boss of the Boards. His work against the Celtics resulted in his fifth NBA-leading game with 20 or more rebounds this season and the 25e Time in his career, tying Hassan Whiteside and Clint Capela for fourth since 2016-17.
Sabonis was dominant under the glass in the first half as he grabbed 15 rebounds. No one on the Celtics had more than seven.
Domas entered the night second in the NBA in rebounding with a 13.8 average, behind New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns, who has a 14.0 average.
Thirst from three
Until Carter knocked down back-to-back 3s in the fourth quarter, the Kings had been a little too trigger-happy from distance, keeping the offense from flowing smoothly.
That was a big problem in the first half as Sacramento threw 30 attempts from behind the arc, wild for a team that averaged 39 three-pointers for an entire game.
The Kings took their foot off the gas pedal a bit from the perimeter in the second half and were much more efficient, as they connected on 9 of the 17 3s they put up.
Deebo wakes up
DeRozan appeared to sleepwalk for the first 45 minutes before waking up and warming up.
The six-time All-Star, who was coming off one of his worst shooting nights of the season, missing 16 of 21 shots in one stretch, came through in a big way. He scored 12 points and had four assists in the fourth quarter to help the Kings close it out.
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