Paul Pierce. Kevin Garnett. Shaquille O’Neal.
That was the starting frontcourt the Boston Celtics had the last time they came into Sacramento and left with a win.
Yeah. It has been THAT long!
But Boston’s Sac-town slump is finally over following Sunday’s 104-93 win.
Prior to Sunday’s win, Boston’s previous victory over the Kings in Sacramento came Feb. 1, 2011.
And the man leading Boston’s surge on Sunday was Terry Rozier whose 3-point shooting reminded us all as to why the Sacramento Kings are on pace to become the worst team in NBA history at defending the 3-point shot.
With nearly 10 minutes to play, Rozier already had 28 points which included him making eight of his 11 three-point attempts.
Boston Celtics
He would finish with a career-high 33 points along with five rebounds and three assists.
Jaylen Brown, seeing his first action after missing the previous six games with a concussion, had 19 points on 6-for-7 shooting.
Sacramento was led by Buddy Hield’s 21 points.
But as well as Rozier and Brown were playing, the Kings gave Boston all they could handle.
However, every Sacramento surge was met with a stronger Celtic pushback fueled mostly by Rozier.
And Rozier was doing more than just knocking down 3’s.
Leading 85-82 after hitting his eighth 3-pointer of the night, Rozier drew an offensive foul against Sacramento’s Frank Mason III.
Boston turned the ball over soon after, and a hustling Rozier came down court and came up with a steal.
Moments later, he converted a traditional 3-point play that increased Boston’s lead to 88-82.
But the Kings didn’t go away quietly, scoring four straight to make it a one-possession game once again.
A time-out by Brad Stevens seemed to be just what the Celtics needed as they reeled off nine straight points, a spurt capped off by an Al Horford 3-pointer to push Boston’s lead to 97-86 – their largest of the game.
From there, Boston’s control of the game was never an issue.
The fourth quarter surge was similar to how Boston began the third quarter after a lackluster first half that saw them trying to climb out from a 60-52 halftime deficit.
Boston began the third with a 22-6 run to go up 74-66 following a pair of free throws by Brown.
That run was aided largely by Boston’s defense which limited the Kings to 37.8 shooting from the field, and 1-for-12 shooting from 3-point range in the second half.