Kings Pull Off Major Upset Over NBA-Best Celtics
Nov 17, 2019, 3:55 PM | Updated: 3:55 pm
Photo by: Kimani Okearah (Sac Town Royalty)
(Sac Town Royalty)
Coming off of the pain of Friday’s tough loss in Los Angeles, the Sacramento Kings hosted the league-best Boston Celtics for some matinee basketball on Sunday afternoon. Like against the Lakers, the game came down to the wire, and the Kings showed off their lessons learned, snatching a 100-99 win.
Sacramento head coach Luke Walton called it a, “really nice team win. At different moments, everyone stepped up in some way. Buddy (Hield) was obviously spectacular. We know Buddy can score but I thought he was so committed to the team winning (with) his defense…”.
Hield had his best scoring game this season, dropping 35 points on the strong Celtics defense. When Boston was trying to build a lead late, Hield kept the Kings in it, hitting some incredible shots over Marcus Smart.
“The past couple days on my shot, I’ve been working harder. This year I’m trying to do stuff I’m not comfortable doing…” said Hield.
Sacramento’s defense has been much improved since the 0-5 start, and it was the defense that won the game tonight for the Kings. Richaun Holmes had a huge blocked shot late that led to an off-ball foul on Boston. Holmes hit two clutch free throws to give the Kings the 100-99 lead.
The Celtics were inches away from winning the game, as Smart’s floater hung on the rim and fell out as the buzzer sounded.
“It’s awesome to win that game but, more importantly, we got better tonight,” said Walton.
The Kings, now 5-7, are back in action on Tuesday night as they host the Phoenix Suns, who embarrassed Sacramento on opening night.
