Final: Celtics 132, Kings 109 - The best the Celtics have looked since the break

Game 73: Celtics (-5) at Sacramento Kings, 10:00 p.m., Golden 1 Center, NBCS Boston/NBA TV

Injuries: 

Boston: OUT- Danilo Gallinari, Payton Pritchard (heel)

Sacramento: QUESTIONABLE- Kevin Huerter (knee)

Kings Probable Starters: De’Aaron Fox, Kessler Edwards, Keegan Murray, Harrison Barnes, Domantas Sabonis

Refs: Marc Davis (#8), JB DeRosa (#22), Brett Nansel (#44)

Last time they played: Celtics 122, Kings 104, November 25 - The Celtics and Kings both started cold, but Boston warmed up quickly to take a 14-point lead after the first quarter. Then they completely fell asleep and fell apart and were outscored by 20 over the course of about the next 21 minutes. Then, in one of the more incredible turnarounds I’ve ever seen, Payton Pritchard and Luke Kornet checked in and the Celtics went on a 33-4 run. The Celtics just ran the Kings out of the gym after that moment.

A little something about this game: This will be the Kings’ fifth game in seven nights. They played a back-to-back Wednesday and Thursday, then played Saturday, and now they're on the back-end of another back-to-back after last night’s game in Utah. The Kings are 7-5 on the second night of back-to-backs.  

Things I’m looking for:

- Limit Sabonis: He’s the head of the snake as far as I’m concerned. The offense flows through him as a pick-setter, offensive rebounder, and a passer. The Celtics have to keep him limited to trying to score on his own rather than involve his teammates. They need to keep him from getting to good screening angles, box him out, and be aware of backdoor cutters. The more one-dimensional he is, the better off Boston is. 

- Make them work defensively: They are not a good defensive team and they're going to be tired, so put them away early by making them work in the half court. Really emphasize hitting them with picks and showing them weak-side actions. DO NOT bail them out by not passing the ball. Spend at least the first half making them work defensively and there will be tons of easy baskets. 

- Don’t let them get hot: They will do what most tired teams do … test the waters of staying alive with 3-point shooting. Work hard to get them off the line and into mid-range shots. Don’t give them hope early and let them feed off a wild home crowd. Kings fans are loud and they’ll give these guys a boost if allowed to. Don’t let the crowd into the game by letting the Kings hit home run shots. 

Follow along below or in the comments during the game, chime in, and let’s have fun.