Sacramento Kings guard Russell Westbrook on Dec. 27, 2025 leads his team to victory and passes Magic Johnson for seventh on the NBA’s all-time leaderboard for career assists. By HECTOR AMEZCUA
Sacramento Kings coach Doug Christie was not happy with the lack of competitive spirit his team demonstrated earlier this week in blowout losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers.
Christie was much more pleased with the effort the Kings showed Thursday against one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, but it wasn’t enough to beat the Boston Celtics.
Jaylen Brown had 28 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Celtics to a 120-106 victory over the Kings in a New Year’s Day game before a sellout crowd of 17,832 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
“The compete level and the standard that we’re looking for was much, much better,” Christie said. “… No normal victories. That’s not what we’re looking for. We’re looking for victories, but step by step, and that compete level was at a higher level. That’s what we need.”
Kings guard Keon Ellis agreed.
“You could tell the difference,” Ellis said. “If you watched the Clipper game and you watched this one, you could definitely tell we showed up tonight compared to those other games.”
Derrick White and Payton Pritchard scored 16 points apiece for the Celtics (21-12), who are third in the East after winning six of their last seven games. Sam Hauser scored 15 points, Anfernee Simons had 14 and Neemias Queta added 13.
DeMar DeRozan had 23 points, five rebounds and six assists for the Kings (8-26), who have lost three in a row amid a stretch of five games in seven nights.
Dennis Schroder came off the bench to post 18 points and seven assists. Ellis scored 16 points. Precious Achiuwa had 14.
The Kings shot 44% from 3-point range through the first three quarters, but they went 0 of 9 from beyond the arc in the fourth.
“I think that was more on us,” said Kings forward Keegan Murray, who was held to seven points on 3-of-13 shooting. “Obviously, they’re a championship team, so they know down the stretch where they’re going and things like that, but at the end of the day it’s a make or miss league. They were making and we were missing.”
Halftime report
The Kings got off to a strong start, outscoring the Celtics 8-0 to begin the game. Achiuwa hit a 3-pointer on the opening possession, came up with a steal that led to a breakaway dunk and knocked down another 3 moments later, scoring eight points in the first 2:41.
Sacramento led by seven following a driving layup by Murray midway through the first quarter, but Boston responded with a 9-2 run to tie the game on a 3-pointer by Anfernee Simons. The Kings led 29-28 at the end of the opening period and went up by five on a couple of occasions early in the second quarter, but the Celtics wouldn’t let them create more separation than that.
There were four ties and seven lead changes in the second period as the two teams battled back and forth. The Kings led 61-56 following a basket by DeRozan with 1:27 to go, but the Celtics went into the halftime break with a 62-61 advantage after Brown made a driving layup with 1.7 seconds remaining.
Both teams shot over 55% from the field in the first half. The Celtics went 10 of 21 (.476) from 3-point range. The Kings went 8 of 16 (.500).
Second-half summary
Pritchard and Hauser hit 3-pointers as Boston outscored Sacramento 12-5 over the first three minutes of the second half to take a 74-66 lead. Ellis and Schroder came off the bench to provide a spark as the Kings staged an 11-0 run to take a 77-74 lead on a 3-pointer by Schroder.
The Kings and Celtics continued to exchange leads throughout the third quarter. The score was tied 88-88 going into the fourth.
Boston led by six following a 3-pointer by Hauser with 7:27 remaining. The Celtics went up 110-100 on a 3-pointer by White and extended the lead to 12 on another basket by White with 3:57 to go.
The Kings had a glimmer of hope when Brown fouled out with 2:09 remaining, but they couldn’t close the gap.
Welcome back
Queta didn’t get much of an opportunity to reach his potential after the Kings selected him out of Utah State in the second round of the 2021 NBA draft, but the 7-foot center has blossomed in Boston.
Queta appeared in 20 games over two seasons with the Kings, averaging 2.9 points and 2.1 rebounds in 7.5 minutes per game. He returned to Sacramento on Thursday as the starting center for the Celtics with season averages of 10.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 blocks.
“I saw a lot of this coming,” Christie said. “I’m really proud of Neemie. He was one of my favorites. As an assistant coach, we’d be in the whirlpool area, and I would talk to him about a lot of the stuff I see him doing now, so I’m super excited and super proud of him.”
Up next
The Kings will be back in action when they visit the Phoenix Suns on Friday at Mortgage Matchup Center. Sacramento is 1-4 this season when playing on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Suns (19-14) had won four in a row before suffering a 129-113 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. They are led by four-time All-Star Devin Booker, who is averaging 25.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.4 assists, and Dillon Brooks, who is averaging 21.5 points per game.