Celtics Wrap: De’Aaron Fox Shines As Kings Earn 116-111 Win Vs. Boston

The Boston Celtics dropped another close one Wednesday, 116-111, falling to 11-9 on the season after a loss to the Sacramento Kings.

Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 27 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds to fall just shy of his first career triple-double. Jaylen Brown had 21 points and four assists while Thompson had 17 points in his best game as a Celtic.

De’Aaron Fox (26 points, 11 rebounds), Harrison Barnes (24 points, six assists, five rebounds) and Tyrese Hailburton (21 points) all reached the 20-point threshold while Buddy Heild added 15 points. and 11 rebounds.

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Here’s how it all went down for Boston against Sacramento:

STARTING FIVE

BENCH BLUES
All five of the Celtics starters got on the board during the opening quarter, and the defense came out solid. Unfortunately, the bench couldn’t produce any offense, literally.

Tatum got going early with Boston down some ball handlers. He had six points, three assists and three rebounds in the first quarter.

Thompson carried some momentum from his season-high scoring performance Tuesday, finishing the first with six points and four boards.

Brown led the Celtics in the first quarter with nine points.

The Celtics shot 42.1 percent from the field in the first, with the Kings shooting worse at 36.4 percent from the field. Bagley led Sacramento with seven points.

Boston led by as many as nine points in the quarter, but closed it out 26-22.

CAN’T SHAKE THE KINGS
Sacramento shot a little better in the second and actually outscored Boston in the frame 30-25.

Semi Ojeleye got things going offensively for the quiet bench unit, though, with five points in the first quarter.

Carsen Edwards knocked down a quick 3-pointer too to give the that unit some energy.

The Kings kept coming at them though, with Barnes finishing the half with 10 points, Fox adding nine points and seven assists. Marvin Bagley III also had nine points and six rebounds.

By the break, Tatum (14 points, six assists, four rebounds), Brown (11 points, two rebounds, two assists) and Thompson (11 points, six rebounds) all had reached double figures.

But Boston shot just 4-for-17 from deep for a pitiful 23.5 percent in the first half, though they did a good job getting to the line. And with Tatum on the bench, their opponent managed a 9-0 run.

Sacramento held a 52-51 lead entering the second half.

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TRISTAN THOMPSON GAME
Thompson continued his great game into the second half, cruising out to a double-double — 17 points, 10 rebounds — by the end of the quarter.

The offense had some great moments in the quarter too moving the ball around.

Theis gave the Celtics a spark to go on a 19-4 run capped off by a Brown 3-pointer that forced the Kings to call a time out with Boston up 74-73.

But Tyrese Haliburton hit two consecutive 3-pointers to stop the bleeding and the Kings were able to climb back within a point with just under three minutes to play in the third.

And by the buzzer, Boston’s 11-point lead had dwindled down to just a point, leading Sacramento 82-81 entering the final quarter.

DOWN TO THE WIRE
Robert Williams continued his great half, adding some energy up at the rim.

Tatum flirted with his first ever triple-double, too, though he ultimately came up short.

Ultimately, Fox’s 26 points, Barnes’ 24 and Hailburton’s 21 were too much to handle in the fourth, and Sacramento hung around the entire game.

UP NEXT
Two games down, three more to go on this West Coast road trip.

The Celtics have a day off before returning to action on Friday with a tough test against the Los Angeles Clippers at 10 p.m. ET.