The Sacramento Kings suffered their eighth consecutive loss as they were blownout by the Boston Celtics on the road, 112-93.
Playing on the second night of a back-to-back seemed to play a role in the final outcome.
Never leading throughout the action, they fell behind double digits early, and the Celtics never looked back. They were led by Payton Pritchard, who recorded 29 points and eight assists on 12/16 from the field and 5/6 from three.
Sacramento never recorded more than 27 points in any quarter, as they shot a season-worst 37.3 percent from the field. Meanwhile, the Celtics had 72 points by halftime.
Improving their defense in the second half had minimal impact as Sacramento’s offense never came around. Zach LaVine led his side with 17 points on 5/9 shooting without appearing in the final quarter.
They’ll head to Washington to face the Wizards on Sunday, hoping to get their first win of the road trip on the final of the six-game stretch.
Sacramento Kings @ Boston Celtics Game Notes
Boston started the game with an easy lob from Payton Pritchard to former King Neemias Queta. It was a similar result their next time down the floor, as Derrick White found Queta on an uncontested roll for a dunk.
Surely not the start the Sacramento head coach Doug Christie wanted for his squad, as their opposition was casually finding their way to the rim with minimal resistance.
By the time two minutes of gametime had passed, the Celtics were 4/4 from the field while the Kings were yet to convert from the field. Christie burned his first timeout and subbed Nique Clifford in for Precious Achiuwa.
One more bucket later, and the TD Garden was enjoying an 11-1 lead for their home team. Clifford made a triple soon after, which was Sacramento’s first make in six attempts.
What a dime from Dennis 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6cFnE4eLnD
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) January 31, 2026
But as Malik Monk and Dylan Cardwell entered the action, they started to find some semblance of an offense. LaVine was aggressive in searching for his own shot, securing trips to the free-throw line.
Whether it was Achiuwa or Clifford as his primary assignment, Pritchard was still able to pick his ideal matchup as the Kings primarily switched all positions.
With less than four minutes to play in the first, Boston had more points in the paint (18) than the Kings did on the night, with the scoreboard reading 29-17.
Pritchard was up to 11 points and four assists as he earned his first rest. His absence harmed Boston’s offense, but Luka Garza and others contributed on the offensive glass.
Ellis and Monk converted a few of triples, helping chip away, but a poor close to the frame that ended with White beating the buzzer from range left the Kings facing a 40-25 deficit after 12 minutes.
Boston shot 17/24 from the field while most of Sacramento’s damage came from the free-throw line (10/12).
DeRozan secured his first made field goal early in the second after scoring just one point prior, and the Celtics made just one of their first five shots, as a 10-2 Sacramento run cut the lead to 42-35.
Overall, a low-scoring start to the second, which all shifted when Pritchard re-entered the action. Showing off his stellar handle and ability to break defenders down off the dribble and shoot from distance was damaging for the Kings.
Christie elected to put in second-year guard Devin Carter, who’d played just 108 minutes on the season, to attempt to slow down the reigning Sixth Man of the Year.
It’s worth noting that Carter also played his collegiate ball roughly an hour down the road at Providence.
Not exactly successful in doing so, he recorded two fouls and one turnover in less than four minutes before heading back to the bench.
Safe to say he wasn’t successful in slowing down Boston’s star of the night, as it felt like nobody could contain him.
During that stint, LaVine was the first King to reach double digits as he continued to draw fouls. Pritchard extended his side’s lead to 17 points with his third triple (and 17 points on his own), their largest lead of the night.
Ending the half with three turnovers and one miss on their final four possessions, the Kings trailed 46-72 at the midway mark.
Pritchard had a game-high 22 points and eight assists while LaVine managed 13 points. Shooting just 35 percent (8/23) on twos, compared to their opponents’ 85 percent (17/20), explained the blowout.
Finishes the first half with 22 points 🤩 https://t.co/3Z91r4mlg2
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 31, 2026
Allowing the Celtics to shoot 11/23 from beyond the arc and outscore them 10-30 in the paint didn’t help either.
Most of Sacramento’s offense came from being 15/17 on free throws.
Desperately needing a spark, the Kings never found one as the third quarter featured inefficient ball on both ends. Going away from switching anyone onto Pritchard seemed to help, as they favored shows and doubles teams.
If there was any time for the Kings to bring it back within striking distance, it was during that stretch, but they couldn’t buy a bucket.
Both teams found decent looks and turned the ball over rarely. Yet, by the four-minute mark of the frame, it was just 83-54 in Boston’s favor. The Celtics were 4/15 in the frame at that point, while the Kings were 3/15.
Holding the Celtics to 17 points in the frame was progress, but the Kings managed just 20 of their own, leaving it 89-66 with 12 minutes left.
Right before the break, rookie center Maxime Raynaud rolled his ankle when finishing a nice dime from Monk, hitting the floor in frustration before stepping up to the stripe.
Apparently, he was fine because he became one of the lone bright spots late in Sacramento’s blowout loss.
Raynaud and Clifford scored their first seven points on the fourth, but continued to allow easy paint points on defense.
Entering the game with 7:04 remaining, two-way player Daeqwon Plowden made his second appearance with Sacramento this season. Carter also re-entered the action for his second stint.
It was a full Summer League squad for Christie, rolling with Carter, Clifford, Plowden, Raynaud, and Cardwell.
Funny enough, Boston head coach Joe Mazulla brought Pritchard back in alongside four other starters not long after.
Isaiah Stevens, another two-way guard, made his first appearance with the Kings’ parent club in the game as well.
The Kings ultimatley suffered their eighth consecutive loss as they were blownout 112-93 on the road.
Never leading throughout the action, they fell behind double digits early, and the Celtics never looked back. They were led by Payton Pritchard, who recorded 29 points and eight assists on 12/16 from the field and 5/6 from three.
Sacramento never recorded more than 27 points in any quarter, as they shot a season-worst 37.3 percent from the field. Meanwhile, the Celtics had 72 points by halftime.
Improving their defense in the second half had minimal impact as Sacramento’s offense never came around. Zach LaVine led his side with 17 points on 5/9 shooting without appearing in the final quarter.
They’ll head to Washington to face the Wizards on Sunday, hoping to get their first win of the road trip on the final of the six-game stretch.
More Sacramento Kings coverage on Sactown Sports
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Upcoming Sacramento Kings schedule for the 2025-26 season
Sunday, February 1st – @ Washington Wizards – 3:00 PM PT
Wednesday, February 4th – vs. Memphis Grizzlies – 7:00 PM PT
Friday, February 6th – vs. Los Angeles Clippers – 7:00 PM PT
Saturday, February 7th – vs. Cleveland Cavaliers – 7:00 PM PT
Monday, February 9th – @ New Orleans Pelicans – 5:00 PM PT
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