Jared Sullinger matched DeMarcus Cousins 31 points and 16 rebounds exactly and the Celtics supporting cast far outplayed Sacramento's as the Kings dropped their first road game of this trip.
No Rondo and no Bradley. The Celtics chances just went way up against the Kings since they'll underestimate them now.
— Akis Yerocostas (@Aykis16) February 7, 2014Sacramento dropped the first game of their Eastern Conference Road trip as they fell to the Boston Celtics 99 to 86. Sacramento was without Rudy Gay and Marcus Thornton, but Boston was without Rajon Rondo or Avery Bradley.
DeMarcus Cousins was the big man in the middle for Sacramento with 31 points, 16 rebounds and 3 assists, but he got little help aside from Isaiah Thomas (24 points, 6 assists). Only Derrick Williams scored in double digits (11 points) but he shot just 2-11 from the field. Sacramento as a team shot just 35.6% compared to 45.5% for Boston.
The Celtics got a huge performance from Jared Sullinger, who matched Cousins with 31 points and 16 rebounds of his own. Jerryd Bayless and Kelly Olynyk both had solid performances off the bench with 19 and 11 points respectively.
This game was really decided in a combined 8 minute span at the beginning of both the 2nd and 4th quarters when DeMarcus Cousins and Isaiah Thomas had to sit and the bench took over. I normally hate +/- but tonight it tells the story: Cousins (+7) and Thomas (+4) were the only Kings that played meaningful minutes that finished with a positive differential. Jimmer Fredette and Carl Landry, who played just 8 minutes each, were both -17, as they were part of the bench unit during the huge runs. Boston broke open the game in the 4th quarter when they turned a 1 point lead into a 15 point lead in a matter of a few minutes.
The Kings will look to bounce back Sunday in Washington against the Wizards.
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