It was just eight days ago that the Boston Celtics had their 10-game winning streak snapped by the Sacramento Kings.
The Kings stunned the Celtics in Sacramento when Marcus Smart's tear drop floater sat on the rim for an eternity before falling off, ending the NBA's hottest winning streak.
In this contest in Boston, it was poetic justice as Smart came up with a handful of clutch plays down the stretch to bring the Celtics to victory.
Sacramento's Buddy Hield did everything he could, going for 41 points shooting 11-for-21 from beyond the arc. It was a performance on the wrong side of history from Hield as he joined Stephen Curry as the only player in NBA history to hit 11 3s in a loss. Curry has achieved the rare feat twice.
He buried two huge 3-pointers to bring the Kings within one point late and when his teammate Cory Joseph tied the game with a tough 3-ball with a minute to go, the Kings looked like they might stun the Celtics again.
Smart – with the game that snapped their winning streak fresh in his memory – was not going to let his team come up short again.
He made a tough fadeaway jumper in the lane and Bogdan Bogdanovic responded with a 3-pointer to gave Sacramento a late one-point lead. Smart took matters into his own hands, attacking the lane with an acrobatic finish to put his team in the lead.
On the ensuing possession, Smart stripped the ball from Bogdanovic at halfcourt and had a breakaway to the rim before Hield caught up to him for the block. From there on out, the score held as the Celtics fought off the Kings' late push to earn the win.
Final 5⃣5⃣: Here's how the #Celtics secured the win vs the Kings tonight at home pic.twitter.com/oflIkjQ6Q6
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) November 26, 2019
Smart has been a special player on both ends of the floor and many are starting to consider the fiesty guard a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. He finished the game with 17 points, seven assists, three rebounds, five steals and a handful of clutch plays down the stretch, but even that doesn't satisfy the Celtics' leader.
According to NBA stats, the All-Defensive team talent had 17.6 partial possessions guarding Hield. The Kings' hot hand was able to score 11 points shooting 4-for-5 from the field on those possessions and after the game, Smart said he was "disappointed" that Hield was able to have a career-night against Boston.
He also played through a hand injury down the stretch, which was later identified as a jammed left ring finger – a minor tweak to a finger he had previously injured during his time with Team USA this past summer. He plans to have it re-evaluated on Wednesday.
The Celtics advance to 12-4 with the win, tying them with the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors for second place in the East.
