Going into the game, Sacramento was missing a few big men: Jason Thompson (sprained ankle) and Hassan Whiteside (knee strain), and then Darnell Jackson right before halftime in a freak incident.

You would think the Kings would have had no chance in matching up with the daunting Boston Celtics, the team with the best record in the NBA.

You would be wrong, as for most of the game the Kings were in it and even pushed back almost every time the Celts pushed them. If it wasn’t for Ray Allen’s fiery halftime locker room speech, the Kings may have prevailed. In the end, in a tough, physical game, The C’s from Beantown got by the hometown Kings, 95-90.

It was the first time this tough season that the Arco Arena was really rockin’. I guess that shouldn’t have been a surprise since Boston is playing like world champions and the Kings have started to show they can win the tough games.

But what was an eye-opener was how many Boston fans were in the building. At times, it sounded like a third of the fans in attendance were cheering for the boys in green, a sound that only angered the loyalists in the facility as they pumped up the noise in their collective effort to drown out the fans wearing the green and white.

Even though the Kings blocked five shots in the first quarter, it was Sacramento’s poor shooting percentage in the period (28.6 percent) that hurt the team. Boston led after one, 27-20.

The game started to get chippy in the second as the Kings were not letting the semi-cheating little things that the Celtics are known for get to them. Even DeMarcus Cousins (20 points, 6 boards, 2 blocks) kept his cool after being shoved by Rajon Rondo during a break in the action. Much like when Cousins went over to Chris Paul after Paul threw Beno Udrih on the ground in the Charlotte game, Tyreke Evans (20 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, 2 blocks) got in Rondo’s face after the shove on Cousins. It’s great to see the Kings coming together though adversity.

Donte Greene (15 points, 2 boards), who’s been getting a lot more playing time with Francisco Garcia on injured reserve, scored 13 points in the stanza to help jump-start the home team. That, along with the fire and instant energy that reserve guard Pooh Jeter brings every time he hits the floor, pushed the Kings to a 54-45 lead at the half. Jeter (8 points, 3 assists) had six points and three assists in the quarter and took a critical charge late in the period.

In a scary scene at the end of the first half, as the Kings were walking off the floor, Darnell Jackson collapsed. After several minutes and what appeared to be something like smelling salts, Jackson was able to sit up and eventually walk off the court on his own accord. The word came down that Jackson was having shortness of breath and would not return to the contest.

Boston kept the intensity going in the fourth by again helping the Kings to six more turnovers in the final quarter. Glen Davis (14 points, 4 boards) had 10 in the period for the Celts by hitting several open jumpers. With all the great interior defense the Kings were playing, it came at the expense of not rotating out far enough to cover Boston’s big men on the outside. And Boston made them pay.

Along with Big Baby Davis, Allen (22 points, 6 boards) was a key factor for Boston.  Allen hit four 3-pointers to go with 9-of-15 shooting from the field.

It appeared that Sacramento would have a chance at the end, but the Kings stopped running the ball across the half-court line with two minutes remaining in the game, a choice that would cost them.

“I just thought that if we could create a turnover, that might be a little better chance than hoping that Ray Allen missed a free throw,” Coach Paul Westphal said from the podium after the game.

Even though the Celtics beat the Kings, there’s been a lot of progress made in the last few weeks and the players are noticing.

“I think we are going to be OK from here on out,” Evans said from his space in the locker room. “We just need to keep playing the way we’ve been playing. Our confidence, our starting lineup out there — I think we bring a good effort. Then the bench comes in and they do a good job too.”

Jeter, who's turning into a big crowd favorite, added this on the way out of the arena.

“I’m just glad we had the effort. We’ve been showing in a lot of games that we can play. We played against a great team and I’m glad we didn’t give up.”

GAME NOTES:  After having 10 blocks in the first half, the Kings finished with only 12 . . . Udrih had a poor shooting night going 2-of-10 from the field, but did have 6 boards and 6 assists . . . Samuel Dalembert had a good night with 5 blocks and 7 boards . . . Carl Landry only played 16 minutes as Westphal thought the match-ups and the way Dalembert was playing kept Landry from being on the floor more . . . A combination of Casspi and Greene did a good job on Paul Piece holding him to 15 points . . . The Kings play again on Friday at home against the San Antonio Spurs.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF:  

JAMES K. LEASH

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