Celtics-Kings Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Mar 15 2012 4:56PM

Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics had been playing well even with the distraction of the trade deadline looming.

Now that it's come and gone with his team still intact, Garnett will try to lead the Celtics to another win over the struggling Sacramento Kings on Friday night.

After scoring 21 points in a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, Garnett had a team-leading 24 in a 105-103 win over Golden State on Wednesday, including the tiebreaking jumper with 5.1 seconds left.

Brandon Bass added a season-high 22 points as the Celtics improved to 2-1 on their eight-game road trip, which ends March 23 in Philadelphia.

Garnett scored 12 in the fourth quarter while finishing one shy of his season high. He's averaged 17.6 points and 9.4 rebounds while shooting 56.4 percent in 11 games since taking over as the starting center for the injured Jermaine O'Neal.

"He's been unbelievable this run," coach Doc Rivers told the league's official website. "Since he's been at the 5, he's been absolutely sensational for us."

Rivers' team overcame 18 turnovers and a 52.6-percent shooting performance from the Warriors on Wednesday to win for the eighth time in 10 games.

"It's good for the team. It's good for our confidence," forward Paul Pierce said. "It shows we can win when we don't play well. We played defense when it mattered. That's what was most important."

Boston (23-19) will get to build on that effort with its top players still on the team after the team stayed quiet at Thursday's trade deadline. Point guard Rajon Rondo was one of those who was in trade rumors, most notably with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Rondo has averaged 11.3 assists over his past 10 games and has totaled 41 in the last three meetings with Sacramento, loser of three in a row after a 2-0 start to its nine-game homestand.

Boston has prevailed in eight consecutive matchups with the Kings, winning by an average of 17.0 points, but the past two in Sacramento were decided by a combined eight.

The Kings (14-29), though, were beaten by a combined 38 points in their last two games. They gave up 40 in the third quarter during a 124-112 loss to Detroit on Wednesday, the most in any period this season.

"You're not going to win a game if you give up 40 points," rookie guard Isaiah Thomas said.

Three Sacramento players topped 20 points in that defeat, including Jason Thompson with a season-best 21 and 15 rebounds. Thomas also scored 21, three shy of his career high.

Tyreke Evans had a team-best 23 points but left in the fourth quarter after injuring his ankle on a hard fall. He's listed as day-to-day.

His potential absence could be a big problem for a Sacramento team which has averaged just 84.1 points in the last eight meetings with Boston.

The Kings have allowed an average of 115.0 points during their three-game skid after giving up 98 or fewer during wins over New Orleans and Dallas to start their homestand.

Kings pound Celtics 120-95

Posted Mar 17 2012 2:27AM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Marcus Thornton and the Sacramento Kings had little trouble surging past the Boston Celtics in the second half on Friday.

Thornton hit five 3-pointers and scored a season-high 36 points and the Kings snapped a three-game losing streak with a 120-95 win over the Celtics.

Boston's defense struggled as it allowed a season high in points, including 68 in the second half when the Kings pulled away for a surprisingly easy victory.

The Celtics, who pulled their starters midway through the fourth quarter trailing by 21 points, are 2-2 on their eight-game road trip which continues Saturday night in Denver.

The Celtics had won eight of 10 games, their best stretch of an up-and-down season.

"Whatever you are supposed to have, we didn't have it tonight," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "They played terrific and made every shot. Our defense helped. We didn't play with the great spirit that we had in this streak. I don't want this to be a habit."

Prior to the game, Rivers watched on a locker room TV as his son Austin and his Duke teammates were upset by 15th-seeded Lehigh 75-70 at the NCAA tournament.

Although they trailed 52-51 at the half, the Celtics knew they needed more effort in the final two quarters if they wanted to slow down Sacramento.

"We didn't come out with the defensive attitude that we needed to; they got whatever they wanted," Paul Pierce said. "We got a good old-fashioned butt whipping. We have to understand who we are - we're a defensive group. We got caught up in what they like to do, the running game."

The Kings set a season high for points and ran away from Boston in the third quarter, shooting 70 percent and scoring 41 points in building a 19-point lead. It was their biggest margin of victory in another frustrating season for the Kings, who have the second-worst record in the Western Conference.

The Celtics struggled to contain Thornton all game. He shot 13 of 24, including 5 of 10 3s, and adding four rebounds, four assists and five steals.

"To win games in this league you've got to play night in and night out, and that's what I'm trying to do," said Thornton said, referring to lopsided losses earlier this week to Golden State and Detroit.

Jason Thompson matched his season high with 21 points and had 15 rebounds for the Kings, who are 3-3 on their franchise-record nine-game homestand.

DeMarcus Cousins had 20 points and seven rebounds. Isaiah Thomas had 13 points and 10 assists, helping the Kings set a season best with 29 assists.

The Kings received a more inspired effort from Cousins, who had been outplayed two days earlier by Detroit's Greg Monroe, who had 32 points and 11 rebounds.

Matched against Kevin Garnett, Cousins and Thompson helped the Kings establish an inside presence and also helped them outrebound Boston 45-28.

"I think we made shots," Thomas said. "We're a young team that feeds off little things like that. If we're making shots, you can say we're going to have a good game."

Ray Allen made five 3-pointers and scored 26 points for Boston. Paul Pierce had 19 points, Brandon Bass had 16 and Garnett added 10 points and nine rebounds. Rajon Rondo had four points and 12 assists.

The Celtics had beaten the Kings in the previous eight games by an average of 17 points.

Ahead by one point at the half, the Kings pulled away in the third quarter when they outscored the Celtics 41-23.

Thornton scored 14 points, Thompson had 10 and Thomas nine for the Kings, who produced their highest-scoring quarter of the season and took a 93-74 lead into the fourth.

"Everything that went wrong with us a couple of nights ago, well it went right with us tonight," Kings coach Keith Smart said. "We moved the ball, we shared it, we ran, we passed, we defended. One thing about this group is they are very, very resilient."

With the Celtics starting to come back from a 17-point deficit midway through the third quarter, Garnett picked up his fourth foul when he pushed Cousins in the paint.

Garnett went to the bench and the Kings went on a run. Thornton scored eight straight points, including consecutive 3s that gave Sacramento a 85-68 lead with just under three minutes left in the quarter.

The Kings opened the third quarter with 13 straight points, including seven by Thomas. The rookie guard hit a 3-pointer and Cousins followed with a tip-in, putting Sacramento ahead 65-51.

Tyreke Evans, the Kings' second-leading scorer, sprained his left ankle in Wednesday's game against Detroit and did not dress for the game.

Notes: Veteran John Salmons replaced Evans in the starting lineup. Salmons began the season as a starter, but lost his job after struggling offensively. ... Boston grabbed a season-low 28 rebounds for the third time this season.

Notebook: Kings 120, Celtics 95

Posted Saturday March 17, 2012 1:26AM

By James Ham, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: After being embarrassed at home on both Tuesday and Wednesday nights, the Kings drilled the Boston Celtics by a score of 120-95, in front of a capacity crowd in Sacramento.

Marcus Thornton led the way for the Kings with 36 points, including 26 in the second half. Starting power forward Jason Thompson put up 21 points and 15 rebounds for the second straight game and second year center DeMarcus Cousins finished with 20 points and seven rebounds.

Ray Allen did his best to keep the Celtics in the game. The veteran guard finished with a team high 26 points on 9-for-16 shooting. Paul Pierce scored 19 points, but went 5-for-15 from the field and left the game early with a sprained right ankle.

QUOTABLE: "That wasn't Kings basketball. We showed no heart, no toughness and that's not who we are as a basketball team."
-- Marcus Thornton on the Kings bad losses on Tuesday and Wednesday at home.

THE STAT: The Kings are 28th in the league in assists, but something was different tonight. The ball moved freely from one side of the court to the other and the result was a season high 29 assists.

TURNING POINT: The Kings came out hot in the third quarter and never looked back. Leading 52-51 at the half, the Kings started the third on an 11-0 run, finishing the quarter with 41 points and a 93-74 lead.

QUOTABLE II: "I think that for some reason we play to the competition. The last two winnable games, we just didn't play how we are supposed to. When we get stops and finish with a rebound, we can run and when we run and get easy fast break points, then it makes the half court game easy."
-- Jason Thompson on the Kings propensity to play to their competition.

HOT: Thompson was all over the floor, scoring, rebounding and running a version of the high post to perfection. The fourth year forward out of Rider finished with 21 points on 9-for-11 shooting. Thompson also grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds and handed out four assists.

HOT II: Thornton caught fire in the second half, scoring 26 points after the break. He finished the game with 36 points on 13-for-24 shooting and hit five of his 10 long range attempts.

HOT III: Allen did his best to keep the Celtics in the game. The 15-year veteran turned back the clock tonight, scoring 26 points, including five long balls.

GOOD MOVE: Smart found a hole in the Celtics defense and Thompson exploited. It seemed basic enough, but the ball ran through Thompson at the top of the key and the Celtics gave him too much room. From this position, Thompson found cutters, hit jumpers and opened up the floor for the Kings shooters.

NOTABLE: The Kings snapped their three game losing streak and improved to 3-3 through the first six games of their franchise long nine game home stand.

UP NEXT: For the Celtics, Saturday @ Denver, Monday @ Atlanta, Thursday @ Milwaukee. For the Kings, Sunday vs. Minnesota, Tuesday vs. Memphis, Thursday vs. Utah.

• Celtics: O'Neal, Wilcox
• Kings: Garcia

• Celtics: --
• Kings: Cousins

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Power Balance Pavilion, Sacramento, CA
• Officials: #25 Tony Brothers, #18 Matt Boland, #52 Scott Twardoski
• Attendance: 17317
• Duration: 2:11