The Boston Celtics have the unenviable task of visiting the high-energy Sacramento Kings less than 24 hours after an overtime loss in San Francisco as they seek to end a road losing skid Wednesday night.
Riding the momentum of a five-game winning streak, all at home, the Celtics appeared on their way to a rather comfortable road win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night, running up a 17-point lead in the third quarter.
However, Jayson Tatum, who had to leave the floor for almost an entire quarter after turning his left ankle, misfired on a potential winning shot at the end of regulation, leading to five more minutes of Celtics sweat that went for naught in a 132-126 defeat.
In the end, the Celtics wasted a 30-point night by Derrick White, who made a season-high seven 3-pointers.
The loss was the fourth in a row on the road for Boston, which owns the best record in the Eastern Conference. Fourteen of the Celtics’ 20 wins have come at home, while the team has a 6-6 road mark.
Even before watching all five of his starters go 36 or more minutes against the Warriors, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla indicated Al Horford would be a “load management” candidate on the second night of the back-to-back.
At the same time, Mazzulla noted that Kristaps Porzingis, who was held out of the trip opener on Tuesday, was likely to return against the Kings.
“Just calf management, back-to-back, a little slow after (Boston’s home win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday),” Mazzulla said of Porzingis. “Just really trying to manage that and make sure both those guys stay healthy.”
As they attempt to sidestep what would be just their second set of back-to-back losses this season, the Celtics will be running into a Kings team that likewise has taken advantage of its home dates of late.
Sacramento has opened a six-game homestand with wins over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards, producing a 12-point average margin of victory in those contests.
The Kings were effective in offense Monday during a 143-131 win over the Wizards, rolling to a season-high point total on the strength of balanced scoring, 53 percent shooting and 17 3-pointers.
De’Aaron Fox (30 points), Domantas Sabonis (28) and Keegan Murray (25) led the way with a total of 83 points on 30-for-52 shooting. Sabonis added 13 rebounds and 12 assists for his third triple-double of the season.
Kings coach Mike Brown is happy to see his team build up a little momentum at home with three tough opponents — the Celtics, Phoenix Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves — completing the six-game homestand.
“We’re doing good,” Brown said. “I think we have the best fans in the NBA, and guys should be excited to play in this building. They should get energy from the fans. We have to take advantage of it when we are here.”
The Celtics have prevailed in each of their past two visits to Sacramento, including a 132-109 victory last March behind 36 points from Tatum and 27 from Jaylen Brown.
–Field Level Media