Payton Pritchard delivered a career night with 29 points, and Baylor Scheierman added 16 as the Boston Celtics cruised past the Sacramento Kings 112-93 on Friday night.
Neemias Queta chipped in 10 points and 15 rebounds for Boston, which bounced back from a home loss to Atlanta earlier in the week. Pritchard and Scheierman combined to go 9 of 13 from beyond the arc, while Derrick White orchestrated the offense with nine assists.
The Celtics seized control early and never let go. Pritchard piled up 22 points and eight assists by halftime, helping Boston build a commanding 72-46 lead at the break. The Celtics opened the game by making their first five shots and went 8 of 10 overall in the opening stretch to take a 15-point lead after one quarter. Scheierman, starting in place of the injured Jaylen Brown, capped the first half with a layup and a 3-pointer in the final minutes to push the margin past 20.
Boston continued to stretch the lead in the third quarter, at one point going up by as many as 31. Even with the outcome well in hand, coach Joe Mazzulla challenged two calls during the period and won both.
Zach LaVine led Sacramento with 17 points, and Nique Clifford added 15 for the Kings, who dropped their eighth straight and were playing the second night of a back-to-back. Sacramento was again short-handed, missing Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray and Russell Westbrook, though Malik Monk returned after sitting out Thursday’s loss at Philadelphia.
Jaylen Brown was ruled out with hamstring tightness and a knee contusion, marking his fourth absence of the season and coming on the same night the team handed out Brown bobbleheads. The Kings fell to 3-22 on the road and 0-5 on their current six-game trip.
Up next:
Sacramento continues its road swing at Washington on Sunday night, while Boston returns home to host Milwaukee on Sunday.
