by Charlie O. Mallonee

George Karl told his Sacramento Kings to think about the rest of the 2014-15 season as a 30 game mini-season. The Kings are now 1-0 in their mini-season after defeating the Boston Celtics 109-101 in Sacramento on Friday night.

The game did not start off looking like the Kings would do anything but lose. Sacramento was out of sync. They turned the ball over. Boston went on a 16-2 run. It looked bleak for Kings’ fans.

Just when it looked like it could not get worse, DeMarcus Cousins picked up a technical foul at the 4:51 mark for arguing a a controversial out of bounds call that went against Sacramento. With 3:50 to go in the first quarter, Karl sent Cousins to the bench and brought in Derrick Williams.

Karl went “small ball” with his lineup and it worked. The Kings closed the gap, took the lead and led 28-27 after the first quarter.

Cousins and Gay started the second quarter on the bench and the Kings played well. When Cousins returned to the game, he looked more comfortable and played better. Sacramento was looking for the extra pass, kicking the ball back out to the perimeter and scoring using their outside shooting.

The Kings shot 53.5-percent (23 for 43) from the field and hit on seven of 13 3-Pointers (53.8-percent) in the first half.

After a dismal start, the Kings led the Celtics 56-51 at the half.

The Kings came out cold to open the third quarter going zero for four from the field. The Celtics cut the lead to one, but Cousins came alive. Cousins scored the first seven points of the quarter for Sacramento.

Both teams seem to lack energy in the third period. The Kings outside shooting was not effective. Boston struggled from the free throw line. The Kings held on to the lead and led 82-74 after three quarters.

The fourth quarter was a battle down under the rim. Neither team shot particularly well. Both teams battled on the boards. Boston kept chipping away at the Kings lead and tied the game at 89 all on a Tyler Zeller four foot shot. Zeller, who was fouled, converted the three point play giving the Celtics the lead for the first since the first quarter.

A Cousins put back gave the lead back to the Kings who would never trail again. Sacramento opened up a lead of as many as 10 points. They settled for an eight point victory 109-101.

DeMarcus Cousins was the Kings leading scorer with 31 points. He recorded another double-double by adding 15 rebounds. Rudy Gay put up 28 points for Sacramento. Derrick Williams scored 11, Ben McLemore 10 and Ray McCallum scored eight points to go with four assists.

The newest King, Andre Miller, scored eight points, dished four assists and added some veteran presence when needed on the floor.

Sacramento shot 48.2-percent (40 for 83) from the field and hit eight of 23 (36.4-percent) 3-Pointers. The Kings went 21 for 26 (80.8-percent) from the free throw line. They out-rebounded the Celtics 57 to 40.

The one glaring area for the Kings was turnovers. Sacramento turned the ball over 24 times and that resulted in 38 points for Boston. It’s not often you turn the ball over 24 times and come away with a win.

The turnovers came in part from the new uptempo style of play and extra passing that Kings used in the game. The turnovers will come down as they grow more accustomed to their new style.

After the game Head Coach George Karl said, “We got to get back defensively better sometimes.There’s a lot of things we’ll have to get better at. But it’s a win, I’m happy with the way we won it.”

The Celtics were led in scoring by Avery Bradley’s 28 points. Tyler Zeller added 22 points, Marcus Smart 16 and Brandon Bass 13.

Boston shot 40.0-percent (40 for 100) from the field went six for 22 (27.3-percent) from beyond the 3-Point line. The Celtics big downfall came at the free throw line where they went 15 for 26 (57.7-percent). Boston turned the ball over just 11 times.

The Kings are now 19-34 for the season and 12-17 at home. Sacramento plays the Clippers in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

Boston’s record falls to 20-32 overall and 8-17 on the road. The Celtics play the Lakers at Staples Center on Sunday.