To analyze the defeat against the Celtics, Mike Brown did not look for formulas or tried to bet on language. The Kings coach was direct. “The assessment is easy to do: they kicked all of our asses, including me. »
The final score reflects it (109-132) even if the Kings resisted well in the first period. As they had played (and lost) the day before and Boston had had two days off, no doubt they were in rhythm at the start of the meeting, before being tired at the end.
“We all felt it in this match”, notes Domantas Sabonis, speaking of fatigue, for the Sacramento Beeas the Kings were coming off a “road trip” and playing their fifth game in seven days. “But that’s no excuse, the calendar is like that. All teams experience this. »
“They made the playoffs and not us”
The bodies were blunted, but what didn’t help the Kings either was the level of the opponent obviously. Playing a focused and motivated Boston team is never easy, even in top form. At the end of November, Sacramento had already taken 18 points from Massachusetts.
“You have to play with rhythm on the half-court”, notes the Sacramento coach. “You have to sprint after the screens, the shots have to be precise, the circulation of the ball too, to cause rotations. Do not hesitate, because otherwise they regain the advantage. Their changes in defense hampered us. »
The numbers confirm this physical dominance of the Celtics. Already, the Kings have lost 14 balls, transformed into 21 points by Jayson Tatum and his teammates. Boston also dominated (17-5) the points scored on second chance, as in counter-attack, with 8 points for Joe Mazzulla’s men against only 2 for the Californians.
“They beat us everywhere: second chances, on lost balls, on all the fight statistics”notes De’Aaron Fox. “Overall, they dominated us in all areas. »
Like his teammates, Malik Monk saw the difference between the two teams, as recently against the Bucks, and faced with that, his observation is simple.
“They made the playoffs and we didn’t. They know what to do, the physical impact it requires. We had not known that before facing Boston and Milwaukee. It was a big test and a great learning curve. »
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| De’aaron Fox | 64 | 34.0 | 51.6 | 34.1 | 76.9 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 6.2 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 25.5 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 69 | 34.8 | 60.9 | 35.5 | 76.8 | 3.2 | 9.3 | 12.5 | 7.2 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 3.6 | 19.1 |
| Kevin Hurter | 66 | 29.6 | 48.7 | 40.8 | 71.2 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 15.0 |
| Harrison Barnes | 71 | 32.8 | 47.1 | 37.3 | 84.8 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 15.0 |
| Malik Monk | 68 | 22.6 | 45.0 | 35.9 | 88.4 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 13.7 |
| Keegan Murray | 69 | 29.6 | 44.5 | 40.7 | 77.6 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 4.6 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 11.8 |
| Trey Lyles | 63 | 16.9 | 48.0 | 37.8 | 80.0 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 7.9 |
| Terence Davis | 56 | 13.2 | 43.3 | 37.2 | 84.2 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 6.6 |
| Davion Mitchell | 70 | 17.8 | 45.6 | 33.1 | 78.6 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 5.6 |
| Chimezie Metu | 58 | 10.9 | 59.7 | 25.0 | 75.4 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 4.9 |
| Kessler Edwards | 11 | 13.8 | 45.5 | 38.1 | 75.0 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 4.0 |
| Richaun Holmes | 35 | 8.7 | 68.1 | 75.0 | 82.4 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 3.2 |
| Neemias Queta | 4 | 6.1 | 75.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 3.0 |
| Keon Ellis | 12 | 3.7 | 53.8 | 60.0 | 66.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 1.8 |
| Matt Dellavedova | 29 | 6.4 | 31.8 | 33.3 | 57.1 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 1.4 |
| Kz Okpala | 35 | 7.1 | 42.1 | 33.3 | 87.5 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 |
| Chima Moneke | 2 | 4.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Pj Dozier | 9 | 2.0 | 37.5 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.8 |
| Alex Len | 18 | 3.2 | 41.7 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| Deonte Burton | 2 | 3.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
