The Boston Celtics finished their six-game road trip on a high note Tuesday night in Sacramento.
After a brutal loss to the Utah Jazz on Sunday, the C's bounced back with an impressive performance vs. the Kings. They jumped out to a 19-point lead with a 40-point third quarter and this time, they didn't look back as they went on earn a 132-109 win.
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All five Celtics starters scored in double figures. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown led the way with 36 and 27 points, respectively. Derrick White added 20 points and 11 assists for his eighth career double-double.
De'Aaron Fox led the Kings with 18 points. Domantas Sabonis notched a triple-double with 16 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists.
The Celtics finish their road trip 4-2 and will return home for a Friday night showdown with the Indiana Pacers. First, here are three quick takeaways from Celtics-Kings.
Boston Celtics
Taking care of the basketball
Crisp ball movement and avoiding turnovers were the keys to the Celtics' victory on Tuesday night.
Boston notched 33 assists on its 49 made field goals and turned the ball over only five times -- just twice through the first three quarters. The Kings, on the other hand, had 14 turnovers with nine of them coming on Celtics steals. The C's finished with 21 points off Sacramento's turnovers.
This is the start of an encouraging trend. They entered Tuesday's action with 12.2 turnovers per game since the All-Star break, but they had only six in Sunday's loss to Utah and excelled in that category again in Sacramento. If the Celtics can continue to take care of the basketball, it will go a long way toward helping them finish the final nine games of the regular season strong and gain much-needed momentum heading into the playoffs.
Robert Williams makes an instant impact
Celtics big man Robert Williams had been sidelined since March 3 with a hamstring injury and his absence was glaring. Boston went 4-5 in that span and poor rebounding was a big reason why.
He returned to the court on Tuesday night and his impact was felt right away. Williams was eased back into action with only 21 minutes off the bench, but he was active during that time with six points, seven boards (two offensive), and a block.
It wasn't a perfect night for Time Lord as he racked up five personal fouls. Still, it's clear this is a different Celtics team when Williams is in the mix. It's no coincidence their best game of the month came on the night of his return.
Jayson Tatum snaps slump
Jayson Tatum wasn't at his best during the road trip, but he finished it off with a brilliant performance in Sacramento. The four-time All-Star quickly asserted his dominance against the Kings' lackluster defense with 15 points in the first quarter (8-13 FG).
Tatum kept his foot on the gas for the final three frames and was particularly lethal from inside the arc. While he wasn't quite able to get back on track from 3-point range (2-for-7), he hit 12 of his 18 2s and got to the line for 11 free-throw attempts. That's another area he'll look to improve as he missed five of his shots from the charity stripe, but it's encouraging that he's staying in attack mode and forcing his way to the basket.
With 36 points, Tatum ties the great Larry Bird for the most 30-point games in a single season in franchise history (39). Bird accomplished the feat during the 1987-88 campaign.