The Celtics had good flashes against the Kings, but nothing sustainable. In the end, Boston coughed up a 9-point third-quarter lead and was outscored by 17 in the fourth before falling, 114-97, their most lopsided loss of the season.
The Celtics are 8-7 in their last 15 games, a discouraging stretch for a team that remains the favorite to win another NBA title this June. It is difficult to discern if there are concerning flaws, or if this team is just biding its time until games become more meaningful. Regardless, it’s been grisly at times.
“We’ve got to continue to figure it out as a group,” Jaylen Brown said. “It’s part of the journey. It might not be as pretty as some would like. But I believe in this team. I believe in these guys and I think we’ll be all right.”
The Celtics made just 11 of 41 3-pointers and said those offensive struggles put immense pressure on their defense. But during several stretches they displayed an uncharacteristic lack of effort, too.
With nine minutes left in the fourth and Boston trailing by just 5, a defensive miscommunication involving Brown and Jrue Holiday led to a wide-open Malik Monk 3-pointer from the top of the key while both stood in the paint. Brown raised his palms to indicate his confusion or frustration, and the Celtics were fortunate that the shot missed.
But the ball bounced to Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis, who happily accepted the easiest of his 28 rebounds, a record for an opponent at TD Garden. Sabonis then shook Holiday with a simple ball fake and had all the time he needed to line up his 3-pointer. This one went in.
Mazzulla called his first timeout of the quarter, and there were boos from fans who have had very little to feel crummy about in recent years.
“I think when we’re not giving our all, I think that’s the most deserved boos,” Kristaps Porzingis said. “So it’s normal, and that’s just a sign of them wanting us to bring up our level, bring up our energy, and we have to respond to that.”
Mazzulla acknowledged that there were pockets of inadequate effort, but he stressed that he does not believe that they were related to any larger issues.
“I would say when you’re having an inefficient offense, it puts pressure on your defense,” he said. “So I don’t think it’s a long-term effort thing. I think you hold a team like that to a 19-point quarter and a 23-point quarter, and you have two 21-point quarters, I think that just wears on you.”
Brown had 28 points to lead the Celtics and Porzingis added 22. Jayson Tatum had 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 turnovers, including five in the third quarter.
Sabonis pummeled the Celtics in the paint, registering 23 points to go with his massive rebounding total. The Celtics were most troubled by the eight he grabbed at the offensive end.
“They just killed us on the glass,” Mazzulla said. “They wanted possessions more on that end of the floor. They got more offensive rebounds than we did, and they wanted it more from that standpoint, so they were able to win the shot margin there.”
DeMar DeRozan added 24 points for Sacramento, which was missing leading scorer De’Aaron Fox and has won six games in a row under interim coach Doug Christie.
With the score tied at 76 to start the fourth quarter and Tatum on the bench, Kings rookie Devin Carter, who had appeared in just three games this year, scored eight consecutive Sacramento points to help his team to an 84-78 lead.
Sabonis’s wide-open second-chance 3-pointer further deflated the Celtics, and things got worse for Boston before they got better. A pair of 3-pointers by Keegan Murray continued the surge, the second giving the Kings a 97-83 lead with 6:30 left. The Celtics never threatened again.
With the season nearing the midway point, Boston trails the first-place Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference by 6½ games.
“We’re going to be fine,” Porzingis said. “We’ll figure it out. I’m telling you, I’m confident we’ll bounce back. We’re just not having the prettiest moment right now as a team, and it’s completely normal … Believe me, we’ll figure it out.”
