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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Rudy Gay scored eight of his 22 points over the final six minutes, Isaiah Thomas added 21 points and matched his career high with 12 assists, and the Sacramento Kings beat the Boston Celtics 105-98 on Saturday night.
DeMarcus Cousins had 13 points, while Derrick Williams and Carl Landry added 10 points apiece off the bench for Sacramento. The Kings never trailed and limited the Celtics to one basket over the final 7 1/2 minutes after Boston tied the game midway through the fourth quarter.
Jeff Green scored 29 on 7-of-25 shooting for the Celtics, who played without Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger.
Without two of their main scorers, Boston struggled offensively and looked out of sync most of the night.
Things were chippy between the teams for most of the game.
Landry was called for a flagrant foul after sending Boston's Jerryd Bayless crashing to the floor to stop a fast break. Cousins and the Celtics' Kris Humphries were also whistled for technical fouls after locking up in the second quarter.
Boston's frustrations boiled over late in the fourth quarter, when Gerald Wallace and coach Brad Stevens were ejected with 35 seconds left to play.
The Celtics managed to keep it close and tied the game at 85-all following Kelly Olynyk's free throw with 6:23 remaining.
Gay helped Sacramento pull away.
After a free throw from Cousins broke the tie, Gay made a pair of long jumpers, sank a pair of free throws then scored on a layup to make it 99-91.
Green stopped the run with two free throws, but Thomas made six straight free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
Rondo was resting on the tail end of a back-to-back while Sullinger _ who had 31 points against Sacramento earlier this season _ is suffering from concussion-like symptoms after getting hit by an elbow from the Los Angeles Lakers' Chris Kaman on Friday night.
Down to nine players, the Celtics got off to a slow start and couldn't catch up.
Sacramento held Boston to 16 points in the first quarter, led by as much as 16 and limited the Celtics to 34 percent shooting before the break.
Sacramento was also short-handed.
The Kings announced before the game that Jason Terry will spend the remainder of the season rehabilitating his left knee. The announcement came two days after the Kings got Terry and Reggie Evans from the Brooklyn Nets for guard Marcus Thornton.
The Kings led the entire first half and were up 49-33 with 2:28 left following a pair of free throws by Cousins. Green, who missed 10 of his first 13 shots, made a pair of mid-range jumpers and added a 3-pointer to cut the gap to 51-43 by halftime.
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