Celtics 
Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday on defense. Barry Chin/Globe Staff
January 11, 2025 | 8:29 AM
The TD Garden crowd let the Celtics hear it Friday night during their 114-97 loss to the Kings.
The fans watched an uninspired performance from the defending champions against a significant underdog, so they booed.
To make matters worse, the Kings were without star guard De’Aaron Fox, and Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla still wound up pulling his starters before the buzzer sounded in the fourth quarter because the game was out of hand. The Celtics were not at their best, and effort issues only compounded the problem.
Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis said the boos were appropriate.
“Honestly I like it,” Porzingis said. “It’s kind of deserved, you know? They expect a high level from us based off of our level and what we’ve shown in the past.
“Not only that,” Porzingis added. “Not only just the talent and just making shots, I think when we’re not giving our all. I think that’s the most deserved boos, you know? It’s normal and that’s just a sign of them wanting to bring up our level, bring up our energy, and we have to respond to that.”
The Celtics, who have lost seven of their last 15 games, remain second in the Eastern Conference standings, sandwiched between the surging Cavaliers and the third-place Knicks.
Their streaky outside shooting fell flat and cost them. Boston shot 40.5 percent from the field and an icy 26.8 percent from 3-point range, scoring less than 100 points for the second time in three games.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said the offensive struggles also affect the team’s defense. The apathy Boston played with was visible at times, especially in the fourth quarter. Trailing by just five points with 9:04 left, the Celtics gave up a pair of astonishingly wide-open 3-point attempts on a single possession.
Malik Monk fired a shot up from the top of the key. The closest Celtic defenders, Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday stood in the paint and watched Monk shoot. The ball bounced off the rim, right back to the 3-point line where Sacramento center Domantas Sabonis grabbed it and sank a shot after no one closed out on him.
“I would say having inefficient offense puts pressure on your defense,” Mazzulla said. “I don’t think it’s a long-term effort thing. I think you hold a team like that to a 19-point quarter and a 23-point quarter then you have two 21-point quarters. I think that just wears on you.
“So, whether it’s shotmaking, whether it’s execution, whether it’s spacing, I think that takes a toll on you,” he continued. “And then, again, if you’re going to shoot 28 percent from three, you’re going to have to do a bunch of other things, really, really, really well and it puts pressure on your defense throughout the game, so we have to be better.”
Porzingis was asked why the team is having effort issues in a game at home, down in the fourth quarter, and letting an opposing player (Sabonis) grab a career-high 28 rebounds.
“Honestly, on some plays, it just happens,” Porzingis said. “It’s not like we’re not trying like ‘oh I’m taking this guy, oh I’m not going’ and then we just stay in the same place and it doesn’t look perfect.
“But, we’re going to get past it. We’re going to be fine. We’ll figure it out. I’m telling you. We’re confident. We’ll bounce back. We’re not having the prettiest moment as a team right now and it’s completely normal. I don’t need to be negative. Believe me, we’ll figure it out.”
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