Keys to the Game: Celtics 101, Kings 100

Key Moment

Xavier Tillman Sr. for the win!

With the top seed in the NBA all sewn up, Joe Mazzulla opted to ride his bench for all of crunch time Friday night. It almost cost the Celtics in the win, but Tillman Sr. was there to save the day.

On a chaotic final possession with Boston trailing by one, Tillman Sr. teamed up with Sam Hauser to win the game for the C’s. Hauser had just had his driving floater blocked (he was definitely fouled on the play, but the whistle was not blown) and the loose ball landed in Keegan Murray’s hands. Rather than quit on the play and complain about the no-call, Hauser kept playing and reached in to poke the ball away from Murray – and right into the hands of Tillman Sr.

Boston’s reserve big man caught the ball beyond the 3-point line and near the top of the arc with 10.2 seconds left on the clock. He knew the time and situation and immediately drove to the basket with two right-handed dribbles before pulling up for a floater from 12 feet out.

It’s worth noting that Tillman Sr. almost certainly hasn’t attempted a single driving floater since he joined the Celtics back at the trade deadline (we weren’t able to confirm on short notice). Maybe he should do so more often, because this one dropped through the net while barely grazing the rim.

Sacramento immediately called for a timeout to draw up a final play after Boston had pulled ahead 101-100. The Kings went to De’Aaron Fox, who missed a pullup jumper over Payton Pritchard, and then Sacramento missed two potential tip-ins before the final horn sounded.

And with that, Boston’s reserves had fended off the Kings while advancing the Celtics to 61-16 on the season.

Key Player

Payton Pritchard sure is warming up for the Playoffs. He entered Friday night having dished out 61 assists compared to only eight turnovers over his last 10 games. During this game, he turned from passer to scorer, as he led the Celtics in scoring with 21 points.

The majority of Pritchard’s points came from beyond the arc, where he was red-hot throughout the contest. He canned five of his 10 attempts from distance to go along with a 3-for-6 effort on 2-pointers, which means he shot exactly 50 percent from both inside the arc and from beyond it.

This was the third time this season that Pritchard has led the Celtics in scoring. He also chipped in three assists and two steals during his 33-plus minutes of action.

Box Score Nuggets

Payton Pritchard led the Celtics with 21 points, while Kristaps Porzingis scored 20.
Porzingis has scored at least 20 points while shooting at least 60 percent from the field in three consecutive games.
Porzingis also logged Boston’s only double-double, with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Neither team scored more than 38 points in the paint.
Boston made as many free throws (13) as Sacramento attempted.
De’Aaron Fox led the game with 40 points.
Domantas Sabonis logged a clean double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds.
Boston’s bench doubled up Sacramento’s in scoring by a count of 42-21.
The teams combined to commit only 13 turnovers – six by Sacramento, and seven by Boston.

Quote of the Night

“This is fun. This is awesome. Couldn’t simulate a better environment of stress, pressure, chaos. It’s a perfect environment to execute.”

– Joe Mazzulla on what he took away from the final few minutes of the game, during which he left Boston’s reserves on the court to close out the win