Payton Pritchard tossed in a game-high 29 points and Neemias Queta had 10 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics to a 112-93 victory over the visiting Sacramento Kings on Friday night.
Pritchard made 12 of 16 shots from the field, including 5 of 6 3-point attempts.
Anfernee Simons and Baylor Scheierman each added 16 points for the Celtics, who didn’t have leading scorer Jaylen Brown (left hamstring tightness and right knee contusion). Brown is averaging 29.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game this season. He had 29 points and 10 rebounds when the Celtics won 120-106 in Sacramento on Jan. 1.
The latest victory allowed the Celtics to avoid back-to-back home losses. Atlanta won in Boston 117-106 on Wednesday.
Sacramento has lost eight games in a row and dropped to 3-22 on the road. The Kings are 0-5 on their current six-game road trip.
Zach LaVine led Sacramento with 17 points. The Kings received 14 points and 14 rebounds from Maxime Raynaud and 15 points from Nique Clifford.
The Celtics led 40-25 after one quarter and 72-46 at halftime. Boston shot 65.1% from the field in the first half (28 of 43), when it made 11 of 23 3-point attempts. Pritchard scored 22 of his 29 points in the half, when he hit 9 of 11 from the field and had each of his eight assists.
The Celtics had their seventh lead of at least 30 points this season after a Simons jumper put Boston up 85-54 with 3:19 remaining in the third quarter. Sacramento ended the quarter with a 12-4 run but trailed 89-66 entering the fourth.
Although the Celtics were held to 40 points in the second half, their lead never dipped below 16 points in the final quarter.
The Kings shot 37.3% from the field (31 of 83) and never led in the game. Boston finished the night 42 of 93 from the floor (45.2%) with 18 triples.
–Field Level Media
