Celtics Vs. Kings: Paul Pierce, Boston Face Woeful Sacramento

All the pieces are still in place for the Boston Celtics after an uneventful trade deadline (for the green team, at least), and the Celts will continue their West coast road trip against the dreadful Sacramento Kings at 10 p.m. EDT on Friday night at Power Balance Pavilion (formerly Arco Arena) in Sacramento, CA.

The Celtics (23-19) have been playing solid basketball since the All-Star break, winning eight of ten games, and are 2-1 on the current road trip. Boston lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, 97-94, on Sunday in their first game of the trip before beating the Los Angeles Clippers, 94-85, on Monday and the Golden State Warriors, 105-103, on Wednesday night.

Boston and Golden State were deadlocked for most of Wednesday's game until the Celtics pulled ahead slightly in the fourth, only to let Nate Robinson (20 points) lead the Warriors back into the game. With the score tied at 103, Kevin Garnett (24 points) buried a corner jumper to put Boston up by two with six seconds left.

Sacramento has been downright terrible this season and is sitting 18.5 games out of first place in the Western Conference at 14-29. The Kings have the fourth worst record in the NBA and the second worst in the West. Despite talented young stars like Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings have dropped three straight and seven of ten.

A nearly as bad Detroit Pistons team smacked the Kings around in their last game, winning 124-112. Jason Thompson had 21 points and 15 rebounds to lead Sacramento, which started strong and led 32-25 after the first quarter but was outscored 40-23 in the third. Evans scored 23, Cousins had 14 points and seven rebounds and Isaiah Thomas added 21 points for Sacramento, which shot an impressive 51.7 percent in defeat.

Boston has one more game in the Western part of the country against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday before facing the Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers before returning home on March 25 to face the Wizards.

For more Celtics and Kings coverage, visit our blogs, CelticsBlog and Sactown Royalty.