Celtics beat Sacramento, 103-102

The Celtics have weathered a number of one-man storms this season, with Buddy Hield’s 41-point, 11-trey performance Monday night a Category 5 affair.

But unlike during the Celtics’ one-point loss on Nov. 17 in Sacramento, when the Kings guard’s 35-point performance was preserved by a Marcus Smart miss at the buzzer, this time the C’s exacted some one-point revenge.

The Celtics, boosted by 24 points from Jayson Tatum, 20 from Jaylen Brown and the usual late-game plays by Smart, beat the Kings, 103-102.

Hield sent the night into overdrive with his 11th 3-pointer of the night with 1:43 left, cutting the Celtics lead to 97-96.

Though Brown answered with a pull-up, Cory Joseph hit a corner three for a 99-99 tie. Smart immediately hit from 18 feet, Bojan Bogdanovic gave the Kings a 102-101 lead from downtown, and with 31 seconds left Smart drove for a 103-102 lead.

Smart came out of the ensuing timeout with a strip away from Bogdanovic. He drove the floor, maintained possession when Hield knocked his drive out of bounds, and after some trouble inbounding the ball by the Celtics, Tatum missed with a late-clock air ball.

Sacramento took possession with 5.7 seconds left, and Bogdanovic bounced out a 3-point attempt.

Hield’s 21-point third quarter considered, the Celtics could consider themselves fortunate to be in a 75-75 tie, courtesy of a Robert Williams dunk, at the start of the fourth.

Carsen Edwards, whose first three of the night kept the Celtics in it down the third quarter stretch, opened the fourth with another for a 78-75 lead. Much sloppiness, and seven combined misses, ensued, until Tatum gave the Celtics an 80-75 edge from the line.

Like most else last night, it didn’t last, with the Kings cutting the C’s edge to a point (80-79) on a Yogi Ferrell pull-up 3-pointer.

But Tatum drove for a three-point play, and just under a minute later Waters buried his first NBA 3-pointer for an 86-81 lead. The rookie kept up the pressure by driving for an 88-83 lead a minute later, with Brown scoring the next time down the floor.

Sacramento answered with a 6-2 run, cutting the Celtics edge to 92-90 on a Harrison Barnes 3-pointer with 4:26 left.

Brad Wanamaker hit the Celtics’ fifth straight point from the line, but Hield hit his 10th 3-pointer, cutting the Celtics lead to 95-93 with 3:15 left.

Aided in part by Smart’s block of Bojan Bogdanovic, and then the Celtics guard’s ability to draw a loose ball foul and hit two free throws, the Celtics took a 97-93 lead.

The Celtics took a 53-46 halftime lead thanks to an 8-0 run over the last 1:14 of the second quarter, with Robert Williams scoring twice off the break. Tatum, Brown and Kanter – the latter on 4-for-5 shooting – scored 11 points apiece in the half.

And the Kings didn’t need long to wipe out that seven-point cushion, courtesy of a 9-2 run over the first 2:35 of the third quarter for a 55-55 tie. The lead changed hands on the next three possessions, until Brown gave the Celtics some traction by following up a Smart jumper with a drive for a three-point play.

Hield answered, and Brown came back, this time with two more drives for a 66-60 edge.

Hield, though, erupted, burying his sixth and seventh 3-pointers of the night during a 10-2 Kings run that was good for a 70-68 Sacramento lead.

Carsen Edwards took the lead back from downtown, Hield buried his eighth trey, and then answered a Semi Ojeleye jumper with a drive for his 32nd point – 17th of the quarter. Robert Williams tied the score at 75-75 with a dunk.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2KTdkEM