Terry Rozier has played the best basketball of his career over the last month and that trend continued in Sacramento on Sunday. The third-year guard scored a career-high 33 points on 12-of-16 shooting from the field to carry the shorthanded Celtics to a 104-93 win over the Kings.
Rozier also set a season-high for the Celtics in 3-point field goals made (eight), which helped the visitors fight back from an eight-point halftime deficit and win their third straight game overall. Boston's defense also turned the game around in the second half, allowing just 33 points after giving up 60 points in the first half. Jabari Bird (eight fourth-quarter minutes provided a nice boost in that department), as the C's clamped down on Kings shooters late in the game.
Jaylen Brown shook off some early rust (four first-half turnovers) in his return from a concussion to score 19 points, while Al Horford had one of his best all-around games in weeks (14 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists) in the victory. Buddy Hield had a team-high 21 points for the Kings.
Marcus Morris (ankle) sat out the game with a sprained ankle, but he could return to the floor on soon as Monday night against the Suns.
GAME: No. 73 of 82
WHO: Celtics (49-23) vs. Kings (24-49)
WHEN: 6:00 p.m.
WHERE: Golden One Center
RADIO: 100.7 WZLX
TV: NBC Sports Boston
Celtics
PG: Terry Rozier
SG: Jaylen Brown
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Al Horford
C: Aron Baynes
Kings
PG: De'Aaron Fox
SG: Bogdan Bogdanovic
F: Justin Jackson
F: Skal Labissiere
C: Willie Cauley-Stein
Third Quarter Notes
First Half Notes
- Jaylen Brown showed a lot of rust in his return from a concussion. He turned the ball over four times in the first half and had trouble with defensive coverages, that allowed the Kings shooters to get going. Not a surprise given his three-week absence. Luckily, he took a couple shots to the face from Sacramento and looked no worse for the wear.
- Jayson Tatum asserted some nice offensive control in this game, essentially serving as the C's primary option on most sets. He was 6-of-7 in the first half, with more than half of those makes coming from the midrange.
- Overall, it was a nice offensive half for the C's, outside of 10 turnovers. Greg Monroe missed a number of bunnies around the basket, but Terry Rozier, Al Horford and Shane Larkin did a nice job of scoring consistently against an underwhelming Kings defense.
- The problem for the C's all half long was the defense. They really started to let the Kings get going in the second half as De'Aaron Fox (11 points) got going downhill on a number of plays. Buddy Hield also roasted the C's from the outside on kickouts.
- Abdel Nader and Jaylen Brown were the main culprits on the defensive woes, while Skal Labissiere hurt the C's from inside and out, attacking the basket in the pick-and-roll and taking some kickouts for 3s.
- 54 percent shooting in the first half for the Kings, including 42 percent from 3-point range. Brad Stevens will likely let his guys have it at halftime, since they got far too comfortable with their offense in the second quarter (33 points).
- Tough matchup for Stevens though, given the Kings mobile frontline. Aron Baynes lack of foot speed is a problem but Semi Ojeleye doesn't have the length needed to match up well with the Kings' bigs.
- Jaylen Brown is expected to return to the lineup for the first time in over two weeks after completing the NBA's concussion protocol.
- It's not all good injury news for the Celtics however, as Marcus Morris will sit out Sunday's contest after scoring 30 points on a sprained ankle in Friday's win over the Blazers. The veteran forward is taking the cautious route with a back-to-back looming on Monday night in Phoenix.
- The Kings will be without a pair of veterans in Zach Randolph (illness) and Garrett Temple (ankle).
- Sacramento has plenty of incentive to tank, but they've still managed to win five of their last ten games. That run has shot them past a number of teams in the lottery, as they currently stand with just the eighth worst record in the NBA.
