Celtics at Kings
George Karl makes his debut as coach of Sacramento when the Kings host the Boston Celtics on Friday. The veteran coach hasn’t been on the sidelines since the 2012-13 season when he was the leader of the Denver Nuggets and was fired after the season. Karl is Sacramento’s third coach of the season following Michel Malone and Tyrone Corbin and the Kings are sputtering through the season, and far out of the Western Conference playoff race.
Boston still is in the mix for a playoff berth due to the weakness of the Eastern Conference and concluded play before the All-Star break with an impressive 89-88 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. The Celtics are 1 1/2 games out of a playoff spot and are resuming play with three straight road games — with their away mark sitting at 8-16. Helping Boston feel hopeful of a playoff run is the fact it won four of five games prior to the break but it received a blow on Thursday when it learned forward Jared Sullinger (foot) will be sidelined indefinitely.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CSN Northeast (Boston), CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE CELTICS (20-31): Boston was active leading up to Thursday’s trading deadline and acquired point guard Isaiah Thomas from the Phoenix Suns for guard Marcus Thornton and a draft pick. Thomas leaves a team that had too many point guards and now becomes the best one on a club that traded away Rajon Rondo earlier this season. The Celtics also shipped forward Tayshaun Prince to the Detroit Pistons for forwards Jonas Jerebko and Luigi Datome.
ABOUT THE KINGS (18-34): All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins is having a standout season, and how he gets along with Karl will be watched closely. Cousins has 33 double-doubles while averaging 23.8 points and 12.5 rebounds but still is prone to bouts of immaturity that hurt his reputation and affect his team. “To have the skills and the size that he has is going to be something that will motivate me to figure out ways to use him and motivate him and get him at a higher level than he even is now,” Karl told reporters.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Celtics have lost their last three visits to Sacramento.
2. The Kings traded PG Ramon Sessions to Washington for PG Andre Miller prior to Thursday’s trading deadline.
3. Boston C Kelly Olynyk (ankle) is expected to miss his 12th consecutive contest.