National Basketball Association
Boston 144, Sacramento 119
When: 10:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California
Officials: #96 Intae Hwang, #50 Gediminas Petraitis, #4 Sean Wright
Attendance: 17874

Jaylen Brown and Derrick White scored 28 apiece and the Boston Celtics bounced back from an overtime loss 24 hours earlier in San Francisco to thump the host Sacramento Kings 144-119 on Wednesday.

Playing without Jayson Tatum, who sprained his left ankle Tuesday at Golden State, and Al Horford, who got a night off in the second game of a back-to-back set, the Celtics overcame a 41-point Kings first quarter with improved defense over the final three periods.

Kristaps Porzingis returned to the Celtics' lineup and scored 24 points. He was rested on Tuesday. Boston snapped a four-game road losing streak and won for the sixth time in seven games overall.

De'Aaron Fox produced a game-high 29 points for the Kings, whose three-game winning ended.

Getting three 3-pointers from Fox and two from Keegan Murray, the Kings sprinted out to a 23-11 lead in the game's first 5:09.

The Celtics got within 41-38 by period's end, then held Sacramento to 25 and 24 points, respectively, in the middle two periods while running out to a 113-90 lead by the end of the third quarter.

Despite shooting 47.3 percent overall and 47.7 percent on 3-point attempts, the Kings never posed a threat over the final 12 minutes, adding just 29 points to their total.

In accumulating its second-biggest point total of the season, Boston did the hosts better in both shooting categories, making 55.4 percent overall and 52.4 percent of its 3-point tries. The 22-for-42 night from beyond the arc came one night after the Celtics went just 17-for-58 (29.3 percent) from long distance against the Warriors.

White's 28 points consisted mostly of 3-pointers, as he went 6-for-9. Payton Pritchard buried six of 11 3-point shots off the bench en route to 20 points, while Jrue Holiday went 4-for-6 from long range as part of a 21-point, 10-assist performance.

Porzingis was Boston's leading rebounder with nine. He made seven of his 11 shots.

While the Celtics had five players score 20 or more points, the Kings had just Fox with his 29. He made six of his eight 3-point attempts, while his teammates were just 15-for-36 (41.7 percent).

Domantas Sabonis pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go with 13 points and eight assists for Sacramento. Murray (13), Keon Ellis (12), Trey Lyles (11), Harrison Barnes (10) and Malik Monk (10) also scored in double figures.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Boston   Sacramento
Jaylen Brown 28 Scoring De'Aaron Fox 29
Jrue Holiday 10 Assists Domantas Sabonis 8
Kristaps Porzingis 9 Rebounds Domantas Sabonis 10
Kristaps Porzingis 7 Free Throws Made De'Aaron Fox 5
Jrue Holiday 2 Steals De'Aaron Fox 3
Kristaps Porzingis 6 Blocks JaVale McGee 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Boston 144 55.4 22-42 20-24 35 50 10 6 9
Sacramento 119 47.3 21-44 12-23 29 37 8 4 7
Upcoming Games
  • Sacramento will play their next game at home against Phoenix. The Kings have a W/L % of .588 after a win and .667 after a loss.
  • Boston will play their next game on the road against L.A. Clippers. The Celtics have a W/L % of .762 after a win and .833 after a loss.