Boston (AP) — On Friday night, the Boston Celtics held off a late push to defeat the Sacramento Kings 101-100 behind 21 points from Payton Pritchard, who also made five 3-pointers.
After securing home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, Kristaps Porzingis added 20 points and 11 rebounds for his second straight double-double, which helped the NBA’s top club win its 12th straight game at home. Out of the last 15, they have won 13.
With 27 seconds remaining, De’Aaron Fox of the Kings, who finished with 40 points, made the game-winning 26-footer. However, Fox erred on a jump shot, one of three possible game-winning attempts for the Kings in the final seven seconds as the Celtics survived, after Boston’s reserve Xavier Tillman had put the team ahead once more.
Joe, the Boston coach
Throughout the fourth quarter, Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla rested his starters and left his reserves on the court in the final minutes.
“Those kinds of moments are good for our team chemistry,” Porzingis remarked. “As well as witnessing Joe ecstatic on the sidelines. It was really cool. A successful victory for us.
In an attempt to keep the Kings out of the play-in tournament, Domantas Sabonis contributed 16 points and 16 rebounds. The Kings have lost four of their previous six games.
Fox was outstanding, particularly towards the end when he was 40. As he should have, he took the initiative. gave us an opportunity to triumph,” Kings head coach Mike Brown stated. “We just weren’t very good at shooting the ball.”
Sacramento’s shooting percentages for the game were only 38% (38 for 99) and 33% (17 for 51) from 3-point range.
They blew a fantastic chance to gain ground in the close Western Conference competition, according to Sabonis.
“We made an exception,” Sabonis stated. “We missed the opportunity to return and take a game from them. Brooklyn’s next game is one of our remaining five. We need to attend to business.
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