The Celtics without Jaylen Brown (hamstring soreness and knee contusion) in the lineup beat the Sacramento Kings 112-93 at TD Garden Friday night.
Payton Pritchard had a game-high 29 points on 12-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range to go along with eight assists, while Baylor Scheierman added 16 points in a starting role and Anfernee Simons also scored 16 points off the bench to help the Celtics improve to 30-18 on the season.
"The mindset never changes," Pritchard told reporters when asked about Brown being sidelined. "It's always about being aggressive and being ready for my opportunities when they come."
Zach LaVine finished with 17 points, while rookie Nique Clifford had 15 points off the bench and fellow rookie Maxime Raynaud recorded a double-double of 14 points, 14 rebounds for the Kings -- who were without Domantis Sabonis (knee), Keegan Murray (ankle) or Russell Westbrook (foot) and fell to 12-38 (which is the worst record in the NBA).
Pritchard had 22 points in the first half, as the Celtics took a 72-46 advantage into the break and led by as many as 31 points in the third quarter en route to their league-leading eighth wire-to-wire victory without the team's leading scorers in Brown.
"It's important that he gets the rest that he needs," Joe Mazzulla said in his postgame comments about Brown not playing. "I always like when some of those guys sit because they get to see the game from a different perspective."
For the Kings, it's their eighth-straight loss, including going a whopping 0-5 to conclude their East coast road trip.
The Celtics went 10-6 for the month of January and will host the Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks (18-28) Sunday afternoon. ESPN has the tip-off at 3:30 pm ET.
Game Notes:
Boston shot 45% from the field, including 18-of-48 (38%) from deep, while the Kings were 37% from the floor and 10-of-31 from 3-point territory. The Celtics outscored the visiting team in the paint 38-30 and had 25 assists on 42 baskets and only seven committed turnovers to Sacramento's 19 dimes on 31 made shots and turned the ball over 16 times.
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