What a battle in Boston.
Playing on the second night of a back-to-back, the Kings gave the Celtics all they could handle Monday evening at TD Garden, but it wasn't enough as the Celtics held on for a 103-102 victory.
Buddy Hield posted a career night, Bogdan Bogdanovic hit a huge shot and Harrison Barnes was tremendous on both ends of the floor.
In the end, it wasn't quite enough. Boston came up with big plays and found a way to sneak out with the victory.
Here are three takeaways as the Kings put up a good fight, and fell to 7-9 on the season.
Flamethrower Buddy
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Hield struggled with his shot over the previous three games and it looked like those woes would continue early on.
After a slow start, Hield picked up the pace in the second quarter and then popped off for an electric 21 points in the third quarter to help get the Kings back in the game.
Hield finished the game with a career-high 41 points on 15-for-26 shooting from the field, including a franchise-record 11 makes from long range. In the two games against the Celtics, Hield has a combined 76 points.
Barnes stays hot
Barnes lit up the Wizards for 26 points on 7-of-8 shooting Sunday and then carried that over into the game in Boston.
Barnes knocked down 5-for-9 from the field and when his shot stopped falling, he bullied his way to line for 10 free throw attempts.
He finished the game with 20 points, three rebounds and a block in 34 minutes of action. He also came up huge on the defensive end against Jayson Tatum, but it wasn't enough to come away with the win.
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Second-quarter collapse
Everything was rolling for the Kings, and then the ball stopped moving and the handles got loose.
After leading by as many as 11 points in the first half, Luke Walton's club allowed Boston to go on a 20-5 run to finish the second quarter to take a 53-46 lead into the intermission.
Sacramento bounced back in the third, hitting Boston with a 9-2 run to start the period and the game was tied up at 75-75 heading to the fourth, but the second quarter nearly proved disastrous.
