The Boston Celtics are in town and there could not be a more polar opposite opponent from the one the Kings last faced. The Celtics own the NBA’s second best record and lead the Eastern Conference and are one of the few NBA teams who would consider anything less than an NBA Championship a disappointment. The Celtics are on the second night of a back to back, but this is still about as tough a test as you get in the NBA and a good measuring stick for the Kings against the NBA’s elite.
Let’s talk Kings basketball!
When: Wednesday, December 20th, 7:00 PM PT
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
TV: NBC Sports California, NBA TV
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140
Last Time
This is Sacramento’s first matchup against Boston this season, but last season the Celtics swept the Kings in convincing fashion, winning by 18 in Sacramento and 23 in Boston. The season before that was even worse, with Sacramento suffering one of it’s worst home losses in recent memories back in January of 2022, losing 128 to 75. The Celtics have won four straight against the Kings, so it’s about time the Kings end that streak.
Three in the Key
Let it Rain
The Celtics are one of the only teams in the NBA that actually shoot more threes a game than the Kings do, ranking first at 43 attempts a game. Considering they also play one of the slower paces in the league, that’s a crazy amount of attempts. Currently, 47.8% of their total shots are threes, and they make 36.8% of them. That number is 39% in their wins compared to just 29.5% in their six losses. For the Kings to have a chance, they’ll need to do a good job of running the Celtics off the line and making life tough for them on the perimeter. So far this season, the Kings do a really good job of limiting opponent three point attempts (4th best in the league) but teams do tend to shoot better than average from three against the Kings (37.8%).
Weak Links
It’s hard to find something that the Celtics aren’t good at. They rank 5th in offense and 4th in defense so far this season. They are a very perimeter oriented team as mentioned above, and it results in them being one of the lowest ranked teams in both points in the paint (26th) and Free Throw Attempts (24th). For a Kings team that isn’t that great at defending the paint, that’s something to hopefully exploit. But perhaps the biggest advantage the Kings should have is that Boston will be tired. The Celtics played a long overtime game last night in San Francisco, with Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Derrick White all playing 40 minutes. Al Horford (38 minutes) and Jrue Holiday (35 minutes) all played heavy minutes as well. It’s possible the Celtics could have Kristaps Porzingis back tonight though, and he will be fresh. The Kings should look to push the pace against this Celtics team that likes to slow it down.
Supporting Cast
The Celtics are one of the few teams that has a great matchup against each of Sacramento’s best players. De’Aaron Fox has personally called Jrue Holiday one of the toughest players to go against in the league, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are both excellent defenders themselves and should be able to handle Keegan Murray, and both Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis have given Domantas Sabonis trouble in the past. The Kings will need good games from their supporting cast, guys like Kevin Huerter, Harrison Barnes, Sasha Vezenkov and Malik Monk. Sacramento’s bench is probably better than Boston’s, but they’ll need to play even better tonight.
Prediction
This game turns into a back and forth heavyweight slugfest with both teams trading blows and leads throughout the game. But in the end, Sacramento’s pace wears the Celtics out and the Kings hand Boston their 7th loss.
Kings 117, Celtics 113
Fan Predictions
Link to Leaderboard (Updated 12/3/23)
This will be a tough game, fighting against Celts who know they blew last nights game. And sat some guys in the first night of a back-to-back, believing that the duds were the easiest of the two teams to beat. Now they are cranky.
In the last 5-7 games, different unexpected players have stepped up: Keon, Keegan etc. There is someone on the bench waiting for a chance to shine.
Fox + Sabonis + mystery person.
Have the same feeling. C’s going to come back strong tonight to push for a good road trip. Hoping that feeling is just hunger, and there’s nothing to worry about.
Yes. And not to keep banging on Heurter but he’s NEVER the guy that steps up. Ok, maybe 1 in 15 games.
it’s why I want someone else for Huerter. He’s supposed to be a significant scoring/shooting threat but rarely is.
I don’t really get the attention paid to our fifth (or even sixth) most important player. I know it’s because he’s in the starting lineup, but still. His numbers are roughly in line with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Josh Giddey, two starting SGs on top 3 West teams. It’s true that he doesn’t have big scoring games, but with Fox, Sabonis, Monk, and now Keegan putting up big numbers regularly, I don’t feel any urgency around wanting Huerter to go off occasionally.
He’s grabbing almost 1 more rebound per game while playing 3.5 minutes less than his career averages. Plus, the eye test says he’s significantly ramped up his defense. All while he’s playing on a contract that isn’t obscene by any stretch. Of course, I would love to see more out of him but the thing I want to see is constant improvement on defense. Since we’re getting that right now, I don’t fully understand the constant grumbling.
Agreed. He’s just a fraction below his career averages and does what he is supposed to do within the flow of the offense. If everyone in the starting 5 was averaging 15+ then the Kings would likely be undefeated. As you said, he’s likely the fifth option on this team when really is role is just keep defenses honest, spread the floor, and play off Sabonis. All of which plays perfectly fine with his value to contract.
Exactly. I’d love for him to drop 35 every so often, but that’s a lot to ask of your fifth option on offense when there are two all-NBA players in the starting lineup. I’ve got no beef with Huerter.
And I don’t see the issue with fans wanting an upgrade over Huerter. Barnes probably needs one too.
The Kings need a defensive wing and or 4 who can shoot some to make a run I believe.
I see Huerter, like the Kings need for a defensive wing and 4…..they need an upgrade. They don’t need an inconsistent threat who can’t really defend.
Granted, this is all about making a championship push. Same as I feel about Sabonis needing a mid range game for the Kings to move forward.
And maybe if they got a defensive minded wing or 4, Heurter would be fine.
Lastly, why the hell do you think they brought Duarte in? Because they are hoping to find a defensive minded player who can hit the 3. IE- they know Heurter needs an upgrade.
If management brought in Duarte to replace Hueter, the problem isn’t Huerter, it’s management.
The truth is, Duarte was bought in to fill the Terrance Davis spot.
Because those others guys you mentioned play good defense and still manage to shoot/score.
Because Huerter was brought in to be a starter/scorer/contributor to playoff runs. And paid well.
So, he is the part of the starting lineup that needs an upgrade. His numbers aren’t good enough and don’t mean shit.
If he can’t defend, which he doesn’t do well, he needs to be a consistent offensive force, which he’s not. And that’s what they brought him in for.
They didn’t bring him in to be an ok roll player who goes off rarely.
Paid well? He’s the 105th highest salary in the league, right around Rui, LaVert, and Kennard and Strus. He’s doing just fine.
Uhhh, they bought him in to fill a role and shoot off of Sabonis kick outs and DHOs. He’s doing exactly what he was brought in to do…and on a good contract!
Dear Keegan,
Although this preview matchup of the assured 2024 NBA Finals might be nerve-wracking, there’s no need to worry. Boston’s legs won’t be as tired as expected, but their shots will be a little short. Make sure you grab those boards. I suspect you collect 11 of them tonight.
P.S. Kevin won’t be able to stay in front of either color, J. Brown or D. White – so that help defense will need to be there.
Sincerely,
Kings fan Baker
The Celtics have been a bad match.
Time for them to hit a rough patch.
Lost last night in the Bay;
They had overtime play.
So this game is one we must snatch.
+1 Snatch the Celtics!
If Zing plays, Sabonis will need to pound him down low on offense. If Domas can get deep in the paint, he’ll either get a decent look, or be able to kick out when the Celts’ defense collapses. If he focuses on starting fast the way he has the past couple of games, that will make a huge difference.
I heard on the telecast last night that Horford doesn’t play in back-to-backs. That’s helpful for Sabonis as he has a tougher time getting his shots with Horford and will be drawn out to the 3-pt line more often to cover. However, every matchup seems like a tough one for the Kings, so hopefully good scouting and execution can overcome those challenges.
Horford is smart, and he’s strong. He can make life unpleasant for bigs, and you still have to guard him out to the arc. I’m beginning to think that he’s going to play forever.
Hopefully he doesn’t play tonight based on the comment from the TV analyst (think it was TNT and not the local announcer). He’s not listed as out for tonight, however.
Cs blew a late 17 point lead last night to the SF Currys and lost. I was hoping they’d win so they wouldn’t be mad coming into tonight’s game. Need to run them off the court.
It was an ugly collapse. I thought their defense in that game looked really suspect. In GS’s run at the end, they had so many uncontested lay-ins and three point attempts. But GS got by partially on straight up luck. There was one possession where the Celtics must have grabbed 4 offensive rebounds and jacked up 5 shots, including something like 4 threes, without a basket. I agree with you – didn’t really want to face a Celtics team that is fueled by anger about the previous night.
Celts on a SEGABABA, potentially missing both Kornet and KP, and playing Sac at home – if there was ever a time to beat them it’s tonight. The X-Factor will be Sabonis. If he can win the battle in the paint against a shorthanded Boston squad I think it’ll bode real well for the Kings’ chances.
I thought Boston looked tired last night at the end of the game
Let’s hope that tiredness carries over into tonight!
I was surprised that the Celtics are only .500 on the road (6-6). Of course, still a good team, but I thought they’re away record would’ve been better.
Hmm I didn’t know they were .500 on the road. The Celtics starters are so good. Hopefully it’s a good game.
I went on a Celtics podcast a few days ago to spread the good news of the Kings and the Beam. Might’ve created some converts. Kings talk starts at about 13:45!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-motern-media-celtics-podcast/id1710914343?i=1000638854038
My pea-brain seems to think the Kings always get a mad team on the second night of a b2b coming in from SF over the years. The short trip seems like it is less a disadvantage than when the Kings have had to play in Denver and then travel back to SAC for a game the next night.
I looked at all teams’ schedules this year who play Sacramento as a SEGABABA, and used Google maps for mileage and here is what I found:
The Kings have 15 back-2backs – (6 home/home games), and total 4,030 travel miles to get from Game1 to Game2 of the back to back. (The longest being PHX to DEN on 2/14 and DET to CHA on 1/10).
The kings average only 270 miles to get from Game1 to Game2.
Kings play 18 opponents who get Sacramento as the second team of their SEGABABA. Those teams travel a total of 7,434 miles to get from Game1 to Game2. The longest being the Hornets coming from DEN to SAC on 1/2 (after playing the Nuggets New Years Day!) and the Mavericks game back on Nov 19th where Mavs had to play the Bucks in Milwaukee the night before returning to Dallas. Kings opponents average 413 miles to get from Game1 to Game2.
All in all, it seems the Kings have a favorable SEGABABA schedule when compared to their opponents; considering travel distances.
A couple of other interesting notes.
The Mavericks play the Kings 4 times, and 3 of the 4 are SEGABABA’s, where all three they have to travel between games. (MIL to DAL 11/19, ATL to DAL 1/27, and SLC to SAC on 3/26). Brutal!
The Nuggets are the only other team to play the Kings twice as the second team of their SEGABABA – and both of those are in Sacramento with the Nuggets traveling from Phoenix and LA on 12/2 and 2/9, respectively.
Those are some weird scheduling quirks. I don’t know whey the league just doesn’t stop road back to backs for competitiveness. Why not make back to backs exclusively home games?
Uh oh.
Gold Bond?…
Shit. Not good at all. Especially foot issues. Could linger.
Now my above comment about Huerter has even more relevance. He needs to step up
Tatum and Horford are both out for the Celtics tonight. Horford was expected (Boston rests him on SEGABABAs), but Tatum being out is big.
Wow. Life should be a little easier on Barnes or Keegan – whomever was assigned to guard Tatum. I would assume Keegan?
Most likely Keegan, I’d expect him on Brown now.
I like this. I didn’t see Barnes or Huerter staying in front of Brown much throughout the night.
If Zinger doesn’t play and Kornet already listed as out, the only guy the C’s have to throw at Sabonis is Queta.
Looks like Zinger will play:
My inner genie is telling me that the Kings are going to stomp tonight.
This one will be over late in the second quarter.
If your genie ends up being right give him a little extra rub tonight!
Even with Tatum not playing this will be a difficult game to win. If we stink it up from 3 early in the game we might not be able to recover. Just don’t fall behind big early and we have a chance.
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