Celtics use big fourth quarter to close out Kings in 14-point win

The Boston Celtics continued their longest road trip of the season Thursday night, heading to Sacramento for their third of four games on the West Coast. Facing a Kings team that has struggled mightily all season, the Celtics failed to find their rhythm early on, dropping a first-quarter game for the fifth straight game, but managed to right the ship when it was needed most.

The game was closely contested through the first three quarters, and although the Kings played much better that night, Boston stood out thanks to their superstars stepping up in the fourth quarter. Derrick White struggled on the court for most of the game, but all starters except Jordan Walsh finished in double figures, with 7 total Celtics finishing the game with double-digit point totals.

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Here’s a quick recap of the Celtics’ 14-point win over the Kings on Thursday:

Final score: Boston Celtics 120, Sacramento Kings 106

Game keys:

Fourth trimester: Outscoring the Kings by 14 points in the final quarter was exactly what Boston needed to lead them to victory. Derrick White struggled for most of the game, but scored 14 of his 16 total points in the fourth, also hitting both of his 3-pointers in that span.

Contribution of the bench: Sam Hauser, Luka Garza, Anfernee Simons and Hugo Gonzalez all showed up and performed well off the bench for Boston on Thursday night. As a unit, the bench scored 46 points, showing good balance from them and the starters. Sacramento had two big contributions off its bench from Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis who combined for 34 points, but Boston’s bench unit did a little bit of everything to fill the stat sheet.

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Painting Domination: Filling up the stat sheet, the Celtics outscored the Kings 40-32 and continued their control down low by scoring 50 points in the paint. Not only did Boston outscore Sacramento, but they outscored them by 10 points in the paint, which was influenced by Neemias Queta going up against his former team cutting him.

Highlight of the evening: Neemias Queta wins a grand slam against his former team

What’s next: @ Los Angeles Clippers, Saturday, January 3, 10:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV

The Celtics will close out their West Coast road trip on Saturday, while also finishing their two-game series against the Los Angeles Clippers. In their first game, Boston earned a 121-118 victory that saw Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard combine for 63 points in November. The Clippers have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA over the past two weeks, winning five straight games even though they are still 10 games under .500 this season. Los Angeles is still led by Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Ivica Zubac who averages 15 points and 11 rebounds on the year. Despite their poor record, the Clippers should provide a challenge to Boston who struggled to get off to a good start on the road trip.

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This article was originally published on Celtics Wire: The Celtics use a big fourth quarter to close out the Kings with a 14-point victory.