What we learned as Domas’ historic game leads Kings past Celtics originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX score

Domantas Sabonis scored 23 points and grabbed a career-high 28 rebounds – and a Sacramento-era record – and the surging Kings continued under interim coach Doug Christie with a 114-97 victory over the Celtics in Boston on Friday night. TD Garden.

It was Sabonis’ 33rd^approx Double-double in 35 games this season and 366^Th of his career, fifth-most in the NBA since 2016-17.

The Kings’ win, their sixth in a row, brought the club back to .500. It is Sacramento’s first win in Boston since March 19, 2021.

And they did it without point guard De’Aaron Fox, who was sidelined for the third straight game with a buttock bruise.

DeMar DeRozan survived a tough shooting night to score 24 points. Malik Monk had 22 points and eight assists, Keegan Murray scored 19, while rookie Devin Carter contributed 11 points and four rebounds.

The game was close in the first three quarters until the Kings pulled away in the fourth quarter.

That was probably the biggest difference between them under Christie and Mike Brown. Instead of digging themselves into big holes or missing late clues, the Kings do their best work when it matters most.

Here are the takeaways from the Kings’ win in Boston:

King the boards

Sabonis, the reigning NBA rebounding champion, is making a strong run to repeat as Boss of the Boards. His work against the Celtics resulted in his fifth NBA game with 20 or more rebounds this season and 25th^Th times in his career, tying Hassan Whiteside and Clint Capela for the fourth-most totals since 2016-17.

Sabonis dominated under the glass in the first half as he grabbed 15 rebounds. No one on the Celtics had more than seven.

Domas entered the night second in the NBA with a 13.8 average, trailing New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns, who has a 14.0 average.

Thirst from three

Until Carter knocked down back-to-back three-pointers in the fourth quarter, the Kings had been a little too gun-happy from distance, which prevented the offense from getting into a smooth flow.

That was a big problem in the first half, when Sacramento sank 30 attempts from behind the arc, wild for a team that averaged 39 three-pointers throughout the game.

The Kings let their foot off the accelerator a bit on the perimeter in the second half and were far more efficient, scoring on 9 of the 17 3s they made.

DEebo wakes up

DeRozan appeared to sleep for the first three quarters before waking up and warming up.

The six-time All-Star, who was coming off one of his worst shooting nights of the season, missing 16 of 21 shots at one stretch, continued with great performance. He scored 12 points and had four assists in the fourth quarter to help the Kings close.

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