The Celtics longest road trip of the season continues as they take on the Kings in Sacramento. This is the second, and final, game between these two teams this season. The Kings won 114-97 in Boston on January 10. The Celtics won the series 2-0 last season. The Celtics have won their last 5 games while the Kings lost their last 2 games.
The Celtics are 192-129 overall, all time, against the Kings franchise and 70-75 on the road against them. This includes games when the franchise was located in Rochester, Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Sacramento. They are 47-30 overall against the Kings in the Sacramento era and 17-22 in Sacramento.
The Kings are playing in the first game of a back to back set and will face Oklahoma City at home on Tuesday. They are 7-7 on the first night of back to back games. The Celtics are playing on the second night of back to back games. They beat the Trail Blazers in Portland on Sunday night and had to travel after that game. They are 7-4 in the 2nd of back to back games and they are 4-2 when the second game is on the road.
This Kings team is very different from the one that beat the Celtics back in January. They made several moves at the trade deadline. They traded Alex Len, Colby Jones and a 2nd round pick to Memphis for Jake LaRavia. They waived Orlando Robinson. They traded star De’Aaron Fox to San Antonio and received Zach LaVine and Sidy Cissoko from Chicago in a 3 team trade. They then sent Cissoko to Washington for Jonas Valanciunas. Finally, they signed former #1 pick Markelle Fultz as a free agent.
The Celtics remain 2nd in the East. They are 5 games behind 1st place Cleveland, who lost 4 straight games before beating Utah on Sunday. They are 7 games ahead of 3rd place New York and 10 games ahead of 4th place Indiana. They are 28-7 on the road and 9-1 in their last 10 games. They are 17-8 against Western Conference opponents. They have won their last 5 games.
The Kings are 9th in the West, 23 games behind first place Oklahoma City. They are 1.5 games ahead of 10th place Phoenix and 11th place Dallas. They are 5.5 games behind 6th place Golden State and the final guaranteed playoff spot. They are 18-17 at home and 3-7 in their last 10 games. They are 11-12 against Eastern Conference teams and have lost their last 2 games.
The Celtics are playing in the 3rd game of a 6 game Western road trip. They won the first game in Utah 121-99 on Friday and the second game 129-116 in Portland on Sunday. The trip will continue through Phoenix, San Antonio and Memphis. After this trip, the Celtics will play 2 at home against Miami and Phoenix. Then it’s back on the road for games at New York and at Orlando. They will finish the season with 2 games against the Charlotte Hornets at home.
The Kings are playing in the 5th game of a 7 game home stand. They won games against Memphis and Cleveland to begin the home stand and then lost to Chicago and Milwaukee. After this game they will play Oklahoma City on Monday in back to back games. After that they go on a 6 game road trip through Orlando, Indiana, Washington, Charlotte, Cleveland and Detroit. They will finish the season with 3 games at home against Denver, the Clippers and Phoenix.
Since the Celtics are playing in back to back games and they have been sitting a player or two for injury management in recent games, it’s hard to tell who will play and who won’t. I’ve posted the regular starting 5 but some of them may sit in this one. Jaylen Brown missed 3 games due to a knee injury and is questionable for this game. Porzingis, and Holiday also missed Sunday’s game and are not on the latest injury report and will likely play. Al Horford (toe) and Xavier Tillman (knee) are both out.
The Kings are mostly healthy. Domatas Sabonis injured his ankle last Monday against Memphis and was expected to miss at least 10 days due to the injury. However he went through a full practice on Sunday and has been upgraded to questionable for this game. If he can play, he should start at Center. Malik Monk missed Saturday’s game due to an illness and is questionable for this game. Devin Carter is also questionable due to illness. Doug McDermott was a late addition with an elbow injury and is questionable.
Probable Celtics Starters
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PG: Jrue HolidaySG: Derrick WhiteSF: Jaylen BrownPF: Jayson TatumC: Kristaps Porzingis
Celtics ReservesPayton PritchardNeemias QuetaBaylor ScheiermanJordan WalshLuke KornetTorrey Craig
2 Way PlayersJD DavisonDrew PetersonMiles Norris
Injuries/OutJaylen Brown (knee) questionable Xavier Tillman (knee) outAl Horford (toe) outSam Hauser (back) questionable
Head CoachJoe Mazzulla
Probable Kings Starters
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PG: Malik MonkSG: Zach LaVineSF: DeMar DeRozanPF: Keegan MurrayC : Jonas Valanciunas
Kings Reserves Devin CarterJae Crowder Keon EllisMarkelle FultzJake LaRavia Trey LylesTerry Taylor (10 Day)
Two-Way PlayersIsaiah CrawfordIsaac JonesMason Jones
Injuries/OutDomatas Sabonis (ankle) questionableMalik Monk (illness) questionable Devin Carter (illness) questionable Doug McDermott (elbow) questionable
Head CoachDoug Christie (interim)
Key Matchups
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Jaylen Brown
Photos by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images
DeMar DeRozan
Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Jaylen Brown vs DeMar DeRozanDeRozan is averaging 22.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists per game. He is shooting 48.6% from the field and 35.6% from beyond the arc. In the first game against the Celtics, he finished with 24 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 block and 1 steal while shooting 34.6% from the field and 40% from three. He is also very good from the midrange and so the Celtics must guard him for the entire possession, inside, midrange and on the perimeter.
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Derrick White
Photo by Jamie Sabau/NBAE via Getty Images
Zach LaVine
Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images
Derrick White vs Zach LaVineLaVine is averaging 23.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. He is shooting 51.3% from the field and 44.1% from beyond the arc. In 3 games against the Celtics this season, all with Chicago, he averaged 26.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3 assists while shooting 50% from the field and 51.9% from beyond the arc. This will be the first time the Celtics are facing him as a member of the Kings.
Honorable MentionJrue Holiday vs Malik Monk Monk is averaging 18.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1 steal per game. He is shooting 44.4% from the field and 32.7% from beyond the arc. In the first game against the Celtics, he finished with 22 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 block and 1 steal, while shooting 37.5% from the field and 27.3% from beyond the arc. (if Monk is out or if Sabonis plays, the center matchup will be key. Sabonis had 28 rebounds in the first game and gives the Celtics matchup problems).
Keys to the Game Defense – Defense is always the key to winning every game. The Kings have a defensive rating of 115.1 (22nd). The Celtics defensive rating is 110.2, 5th in the league. The Celtics need to defend the paint as the Kings average 48.4 points in the paint per game. The Kings average 35.7 three pointers attempted per game so the Celtics must also defend the perimeter. The Celtics need to make defense a priority and commit to playing tough lock down defense for 48 minutes.
Rebound – Much of rebounding is effort and desire. The Celtics have to put out extra effort to grab the rebounds on both ends of the court. By doing so, they limit the second chance points and fast breaks for the Kings and also give themselves extra possessions. The Celtics are averaging 44.9 rebounds per game to 44.3 rebounds per game for the Kings. The Kings average 14.4 second chance points per game and extra effort from the Celtics can limit those. The Kings out-rebounded the Celtics 56-43 in their first meeting (28 for Sabonis alone) and so the Celtics have to work harder on the boards if they want to win this game.
Effort and Energy for 48 Minutes – The Celtics must be the more aggressive team. They have to fight for loose balls, defend aggressively, be aggressive in driving to the basket, and just play harder than the Kings for the entire game. They have to begin the game with energy and not allow the Kings to get a big lead and they can’t let up throughout the game. They especially have to come out strong in the 3rd quarter and play hard until the final buzzer. The team that is more aggressive and that plays harder usually gets the benefit of more calls from the refs as well.
To 3 or Not to 3 – The Celtics are first in the league, attempting 48.2 threes a game. When they fall, the Celtics are tough to beat. But, when they aren’t falling, the Celtics struggle. In the first game against the Kings, the Celtics shot just 28.6% from beyond the arc while the Kings shot 38.3% on threes. If the Celtics aren’t hitting their 3s, they have to go to Plan B and take the ball to the basket or shoot from midrange. If the 3s are falling, great!! If not, go to Plan B.
X-Factors Fatigue on the Road – This is the third game of a 6 game road trip. The Celtics have had to travel across the country and across 3 time zones. They are also playing on the second night of back to back games after playing in Portland on Sunday and in the 3rd game in 4 days with travel between them. Fatigue could come into play for them. Also they need to ignore the distractions of travel, an unfamiliar arena and a hostile crowd and concentrate on playing together and playing the right way.
Who Is and Who Isn’t Playing – This time of the season, it’s tough to predict who is going to play and who is going to sit in any given game. Most players have nagging injuries that teams are trying to get healed up before the playoffs. The Kings are a much better team with Sabonis playing and he is questionable for this game after sitting out the previous 3 games. The Celtics will most likely sit Horford to rest his sprained toe and Brown may possibly still be out. Tatum may or may not sit to rest the tendinitis in his knee. Holiday may play or may sit due to the shoulder impingement. The Kings are fighting to make the playoffs and will not sit any players unless they absolutely have to.
Officiating – Officiating can always be an x-factor. Every crew will call the game differently. Some will call every little thing and the game will have no flow. Others will let a lot go and let them play. Some crews favor the home team while others call it evenly or have a personal agenda. The Celtics need to adjust to how the game is called and not let the officials take away their focus.
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