The Boston Celtics hung on to defeat the visiting Sacramento Kings 97 - 92 on Friday night at TD Garden. After a tight first half the Kings took a 72 - 69 lead into the fourth quarter, however Boston used a 14 - 4 run to take a seven - point lead with six and a half minutes to go. The Celtics were able to hang on thanks to a couple of clutch plays by Al Horford, including a clutch three - pointer and game - saving defense on DeMarcus Cousins, who had the chance to tie the game as the Kings in - bounded the ball with nine seconds left, down by three. The Celtics (11 - 8) improved to 5 - 4 at home and continue moving in the right direction as they have won five of their last seven games. Horford was the high - point man for Boston on Friday, with 26 points to go along with eight rebounds and a monstrous six blocks. Isaiah Thomas added 20 points, while Jae Crowder chipped in 16 points on 6 - of - 12 shooting, including 3 - of - 5 from deep. The Kings (7 - 12) have now lost two straight and fall to 3 - 7 on the road this season as they could not break the spell that has them winless in Boston since 2007. They are 1 - 2 on their current road trip which has them in New York to face the Knicks on Sunday before winding - up the trip in Dallas on Wednesday.
["TeamStat(G,'Celtics') has 8 Losses ,has 97 Total points ,has 11 Wins ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Kings') has 12 Losses ,has 92 Total points ,has 7 Wins ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'DeMarcus Cousins') has 3 Assists ,has 3 Blocks ,has 9 3-pointers attempted ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Jae Crowder') has 5 Assists ,has 3 Blocks ,has 12 3-pointers attempted ,has 6 3-pointers made ,has 16 Field goals attempted ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Al Horford') has 3 Assists ,has 6 Blocks ,has 26 3-pointers attempted ,has 8 3-pointers made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Isaiah Thomas') has 20 Assists ."]