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January 2, 2026 17 mins
The Celtics grabbed their third double-digit win of the road trip Friday night with a 120-106 win over the Kings in Sacramento. Derrick White and Jaylen Brown combined for 22 points during the fourth quarter, and seven Celtics scored at least 11 points. It was a total team effort, and we’re detailing how it all went down.
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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Down the Boston Celtic's getting it done yet again out
West and now being a season high nine games over
the five hundred mark. Thanks for giving us a listen.
This is they sound Off postgame podcast presented by Exfinity
Mobile and we're coming at you late, late, late night
tonight after the Celtics ten o'clock tip out West against

(00:28):
the Sacramento Kings, and listen, this was a close game
throughout The Kings played well. You gotta give them credit.
I thought they played above their standard so far this season,
especially for a team that looks like it's going to
be back in the lottery when all things are said
and done. But they played well, especially during the first half.
But just like the other night, when the Celtics won

(00:51):
a game when they didn't have their best, they figured
out a way to separate themselves in the end, and
that is how the Boston Celtics log yet another double
digit win. They now have three wins in the first
four games of this road trip. All three of those
wins are by double digits, and these two most recent

(01:11):
ones were on nights when the Celtics, as I said,
they just didn't seem to have their a game. But
they were able to figure it out in the end
and separate themselves. Now, how do you win on the
road during a season long road trip all the way
out west when you don't have your absolute best, Number one,
your best players have got to deliver when it matters most.

(01:35):
That's number one. Number two, you need a full team
performance from top to bottom. The Celtics got both of
those tonight. Derek White and Jalen Brown twenty two combined
points during the fourth quarter, Derek White scoring fourteen of
those points during the fourth. He only had two heading

(01:55):
into the final quarter, but those two guys combined for
twenty two points, including two twelve straight at one point
for the Celtics. That made it a ten point game
with less than four minutes to go. You knew at
that moment that the Boston Celtics were going to grab
this win. So there they go. They check off number one.
Now number two, you've got to have a performance top

(02:15):
to bottom. The Celtics got that tonight as well. Seven
players scored at least seven excuse me, it scored at
least eleven points. Three of those players were off the bench.
Sam Hauser completely in rhythm fifteen points off the bench,
five of seven from three, made the first four to

(02:36):
threes of his night, didn't even touch the rim on
any of those three pointers. It was a revenge game
for Namias Kaida, who was back in the place where
it all started in the NBA, a team that cut him.
He winds up scoring thirteen points, blocks, three shots, some
beautiful finishes at the rim. Luca Garza played well again,
Anthony Simon scored fourteen points off the bench. Even Baylor Shyerman,

(02:59):
who only play eight eight minutes, hit a huge three
for the Celtics while he was out on the court.
This is a team game, guys. You lose games like
this if you aren't a team. You win games like
this if you are a true team, and that is
exactly what the Boston Celtics are. They proved it again

(03:21):
tonight and that is how they logged another double digit
win when they didn't have their best And how can
I forget to mention by the way Ugo Gonzalez. Now,
he did not put up any crazy stats tonight, only
three points, six rebounds, one assist, one steal. But yet again,

(03:45):
you look into that plus minus category and the Celtics
were great. Yet again, while he was on the floor.
They outscored Sacramento by twenty points while he was out there.
It seems like every night that he's out there, the
Celtics are having an incredible plus minus with him on
the floor, and he just keeps upping the number. That

(04:08):
is a leading number among NBA rookies so far this season.
We don't have the full number right now. It's got
an update on NBA dot com after all the games
are complete and we get into the stat updates overnight.
But I guarantee you he added to and padded his
lead in that category among all NBA rookies. He is

(04:30):
the best when it comes to plus minus rating and
the Celtics outscore the Kings by another twenty points while
he was on the floor. Tonight, Jalen Brown finishes with
a monster double double twenty nine points, ten rebounds, also
had four assist during this game. Yes, he did foul out,
but we don't need to concentrate on that, right, We

(04:51):
don't need to concentrate on that. He was excellent while
he was out there on the floor. Just continues to
bring it every night for the This is giving them
exactly what they need. This was the fifth double double
of his season. Seems like he's really upping the ante
in the rebound category here of late, and he does
it again tonight with the only double double by the

(05:13):
way of any player in this game. No other player
grab more than eight rebounds. He grabbed ten to go
along with his game high twenty nine points, so the
Celtics get a true top to bottom performance. You'll love
to see Jalen Brown and Derek White combining to take

(05:34):
over during the fourth quarter when the game was kind
of hanging in the balance again. Sacramento was playing well,
they were being pesky, they were hanging around, and the
Celtics just couldn't knock them out until that fourth quarter
started in the two best players in the game who
both wear green and white on this night. Black and Green.
That is Derek White, that is Jalen Brown, and those

(05:57):
are the guys who took over during the fourth that
twelve point burst where they scored twelve consecutive points for
the Celtics. Six of them happened in about twenty seven
seconds or something like something around there. First, Jalen Brown
with a beautiful mid range shocking, isn't it. He made

(06:18):
a big bucket from the mid range, a beautiful mid
range and one. And then about twenty seven or so
seconds after that, after JB's conventional three point play, Derek
White drains a three pointer of his own that was
six straight points, pushed the Celtics ahead by ten, and
they never looked back from there. I said to anyone

(06:43):
who would listen before this season, and everyone was questioning, Oh,
the Celtics aren't going to be that good. They're not
gonna be that good. They don't have Jason Tatum. All
these guys left during the offseason, either by trade or
by signing somewhere else. They're just not gonna be that good.
And I looked everyone right in the eyes and I said,
I don't know how many listen, but I said, there

(07:05):
are not many teams in the East that have a
better one to two punch than Jaln Brown and Derek White.
This is without Jason Tatum. But I tried to tell
everyone who would listen, not many teams in this Eastern
Conference have a one to two punch like Jylen Brown

(07:27):
and Derek White. I wasn't wrong, and tonight was just
another reminder of that fact. Those guys took over during
the fourth quarter. They are the reason in the end
why the Celtics won this game. Yes, obviously the team
performance is what got the Celtics and kind of teed

(07:50):
them up for those two to hit the ball off
the tee and take the Celtics home. But those two
guys were great, and they continued to be great this
This is one game after Jalen Brown had a double
double with ten assists, and when Derek White had seven
blocks a historic performance, when after Jalen Brown scored thirty

(08:11):
plus and nine straight games during the month of December.
These two guys are top flight NBA players. Both of
them probably could be on the All Star team this season.
Who knows if Derek's gonna make it. Jalen is a
surefire All Star this season, should be a starter if
he ask me. But there are not many teams in

(08:34):
the East and maybe in the League who have two
guys that are that polished, playing at both ends of
the court, making an impact at both ends of the
court for the entire game. The Celtics are blessed to
have these guys on their side. All Right, We're gonna
only gonna take one comment from our fans tonight. It's

(08:57):
late all right, we got Celtics Weekly. We're recording tomorrow morning,
so I gotta be up and back at the office.
We're only taking one comment tonight. This one's coming in
from Wild Green Ossi on the Celtics overcoming West Coast weirdness.
All right, Wild Green Assy, you are up. I film

(09:18):
here one. Put your mobile bill in half and save
sixty five dollars a month for your first year with
Expinity Mobile. All right, folks, Wild Green Aussi says, this
is exactly the type of West Coast trip weirdness you

(09:38):
have to be ready for. Just like the last game.
It wasn't pretty. Sacramento started off hot, but the Celtics
rallied together and got the W shout out to fourth
quarter Derek White. Wow, we got an emoji with some
some hearts over the eyes. Never doubted him. All right,

(09:59):
I want to start out with the first part of
this about the West coast weirdness, where you've got to
be ready for it, just like the last game. Yeah,
we kind of already touched on this, but when you
go out west for a season long road trip, there's
no way you're going to be feeling good about yourself
every night. You take the court, it's just not gonna happen,
especially where the Celtics had one game that was in

(10:19):
the afternoon. They started out in Indiana. Right, this isn't
like a full West coast trip. They didn't start out
out there and end out there. They started in Indiana,
then they had an afternoon game local time. Now tonight
they're playing at ten o'clock Eastern time, which their bodies
are normally accustomed to. There's always gonna be some weird

(10:40):
stuff that pops up. Part of the weird stuff was
that Sacramento was awesome tonight, especially during the first half
first three quarters. First half, they shot eight for sixteen
from three point range. This is one of the worst
three point shooting teams in the league. But the Celtics
figured that part out during the second half. Right after

(11:02):
allowing eight for sixteen during the first half. They held
them to four for twenty from long distance during the
second half. So you're gonna have those weird things that
pop up, to wild Green Aussi's point here, those weird
things are gonna pop up throughout a West Coast trip,
and the Celtics to this point have handled them extremely well. Yes,

(11:22):
there was that blip out in Portland. The turnovers late,
unconventional turnovers by the way, just totally uncharacteristic of what
the Celtics typically typically display. Usually if they're turning the
ball over, it's like a careless pass. These were total
miscommunications where guys just weren't in the right spots, they

(11:43):
weren't on the same page. So yeah, there's one game
where they didn't overcome that weirdness, but these last two
wins they did overcome that weird stuff that's going on.
So great to see that the Boston Celtics can pull
that off. Now to the next part of this post.
Shout out to fourth quarter Derek White. Wow. Never doubted him. Yeah,

(12:06):
I'm sure some people were doubting him because he entered
the fourth quarter with only two points. He just didn't
have it going offensively the way that we typically see
him going offensively, especially as of late. But then he
found it. He heated it up, and not only did
he get hot, but he got to the point he

(12:26):
made a couple of pull ups during this fourth quarter
that were so smooth, and they were challenged at a
pretty high level, and he still just switched it right
through the net like there was no defender there. It
was just him and the rim and no one else. Clearly,
this guy was feeling it okay because a couple of
these shots were of a very high degree of difficulty

(12:50):
and he still was able to put them through the
rim to push the Celtics in the exact direction that
they needed. So yeah, I'm sure they're worse. Some people
out there who may have doubted him going into the
fourth quarter on this particular night because it just seemed
like he didn't have his offensive rhythm. In fact, I'd
like to take a look at the full numbers of

(13:12):
what he did through the first three quarters in terms
of scoring the basketball. Not only excuse me, was he
only had two points, but he was one for six
from the field, zero for four from three point range,
had a turnover. Obviously, he had been moving the ball
and he dished out seven assists at that point, but

(13:33):
him scoring the basketball just was not happening. He just
did not have his rhythm. And then to be able
to just out of nowhere find it, turn it on
and deliver exactly what his team needs, exactly when they
need it. That is the sign of a clutch player,

(13:54):
and Derek White has been one of the most clutch
players in the NBA this season. I'm not sure if
it's still true, but for much of this season he
has led the league in three point percentage in clutch time. Now,
tonight it didn't get to clutch time because it wasn't

(14:16):
a close game. But during that fourth quarter, fourteen points,
four for seven from the field, two for three from
three point range, and a perfect four for four from
the free throw line. So anyone who did doubt him,
he proved you wrong, and he reminded you of just

(14:37):
the caliber of player that he really is. He was
excellent during that fourth quarter, really the key driver of
that most important stretch of the game. Yes, Jalen Brown
also scored eight points during the fourth quarter, but Derek
White is the guy who got them started, and so
credit to him for being able to go from next

(14:59):
to nothing scoring the basketball for three quarters and then
all of a sudden become a guy that simply could
not be stopped during the fourth quarter when the game
was decided. Props to Derek White, Props to Jalen Brown.
We can go all the way down the list. Props
to namiash Kida, Peyton Pritchard, Anthony Simon, Sam Houser, Luca

(15:23):
garz at Ugo, Gonzalez, Baylor Shimp, everyone who was out
there for key moments delivered key plays for the Boston Celtics.
And that again, is how you win on the road
during a West Coast trip when you don't have your
a game. The Celtics have now done it twice on
this trip, and we're gonna find out if they can

(15:45):
log another win in their fifth and final game of
this road trip that is coming up. Saturday night. Tip
off is a late one. I hope you're staying up
late with us on a Saturday night. Tip off is
at ten thirty in LA. The Celtic will be taking
on the now suddenly red hot LA Clippers. That's right,
the Clippers have won five straight games and they seem

(16:08):
to be turning a corner themselves. This is gonna be
a tough matchup for the Celtics. Kawhi Leonard is playing well.
James Harden is playing well. I can't wait to see
these two teams match up at ten thirty again on
Saturday night. All right after that game, I will not
have a sound off postgame podcast. I know this is
happening a lot recently, but around these holidays, I've been

(16:29):
trying to fit in some time with my family and
so I will be off from that game on Saturday,
but i'll be back for our home stand that starts
Monday night against the Chicago Bulls, and we'll have another
episode of sound Off, both in the video platform on
YouTube and we'll have the audio platform on all of
your favorite podcast channels and platforms. So make sure you

(16:53):
check out my post after the final buzzer of Monday's game,
and I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend
and hope that the self is grabbing other winds Saturday
night when they take on the clip
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