12.20.2017

C's Start Road Trip with "Ugly" 20-Point W

12/27/2007

SACRAMENTO - The Celtics were finally able to crown the Kings last night in California's capital city.

Boston snapped an 11-game losing streak here with an ugly 89-69 victory last night. The Celtics improved to an NBA-best 23-3 and have won five straight games on the road. It was Boston's first win here since Feb. 16, 1996.

Ray Allen scored a team-high 17, Paul Pierce added 16, and Kevin Garnett had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Boston shot only 40.8 percent from the field and committed 18 turnovers. The Kings (11-16) shot 38.2 percent and didn't have a player score more than 15 points.

This is the Celtics' first trip to the West Coast this season, and while Sacramento, Seattle, Utah, and the Lakers aren't exactly like playing San Antonio, Phoenix, and Dallas, the Celtics were playing their first of four games in five nights.

"I haven't talked about this trip," said coach Doc Rivers before the game. "We play Sacramento tonight. I just talked about that. I don't care if it's the West."

The Celtics won the previous meeting, 90-78, Dec. 12 in Boston. It wasn't the prettiest game, as the Celtics shot 39.1 percent and the Kings' 44.3 percent.

Last night's game was also ugly at the start. The Celtics went ahead, 12-4, on a Garnett jumper. Boston ended a scoring drought of 4:16 with a free throw by Rajon Rondo to push its lead to 13-10 with 2:07 left in the first quarter. A James Posey dunk with 1:39 left gave the Celtics a 15-10 lead and accounted for their first field goal since 5:23 remained in the quarter. Sacramento scored the last 5 points of the quarter to trim its deficit to 18-16.

The Kings took their first lead, 20-18, on a baseline hook shot by rookie Spencer Hawes. The Celtics then used an 11-0 run, including three straight 3-pointers, to take a 33-25 lead with 5:45 left in the half. Two straight Pierce 3-pointers gave Boston a 38-27 lead, a trey by Allen made it 42-27, and another Pierce 3-pointer gave Boston a 53-29 cushion with 31.5 seconds left and completed a mammoth 33-5 run.

The Celtics made 6 of 10 3-point attempts in the second quarter. The Kings' 29 points were the fewest for a Celtics opponent in the first half this season. Pierce (14), Allen (13), and Garnett (10) were all in double figures at the break.

Whatever cold-shooting ailment the Kings had in the second quarter, the Celtics caught in the third. The Kings opened the quarter with a 10-0 run to trim their deficit to 53-39 on a dunk by Mikki Moore.

The Celtics got their first point of the third when Allen hit a free throw after an illegal defense technical to go up, 54-39. After a technical foul on Kendrick Perkins, Brad Miller made a free throw to trim the Kings' deficit to 54-40.

A 3-point play by Ron Artest with 5:33 left in the third quarter sliced the Celtics' lead to 54-42. After missing their first eight field goal attempts and committing seven turnovers, the Celtics made their first field goal of the third on a Garnett jumper at the 5:18 mark to push Boston ahead, 56-43. Despite scoring just 13 points, the Celtics still finished the quarter with a 66-56 lead.

Boston shot just 4 for 16 from the field and had nine turnovers in the third.

An Artest lay-in sliced Sacramento's deficit to 66-61 with 11:11 left. Boston responded with an 8-0 run to go up, 74-61, on a Tony Allen layup with 8:58 remaining. Rondo connected on two free throws with 3:12 left to give Boston a 15-point lead (81-66) that was enough to seal the win.

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