Feisty Celtics survive 41 points from white-hot Hield, win 103-102

The Boston Celtics survived the Buddy Hield show thanks to Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart.

Although they couldn’t seem to contain Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Hield, who unleashed canned a career-high 11 threes against the Boston Celtics en route to a 41-point night, the Celtics would trade baskets with the Kings for much of the game and lean on strong performances from Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart to pull out a narrow win (103-102) over their Western Conference foes.

The trio scored 61 of the team’s points, good for 59.2% of the total, with each continuing to do the things that had made them successful on offense to this point in the season.

With Brown attacking the rim and using his explosiveness to his advantage, Tatum showing off his combination of footwork and shooting touch and Smart finding the mark with a series of runners and floaters, Boston was able to keep up with Sacramento’s Bohemian baller.

However, it still took two clutch shots from Smart at the end of the game — and a defensive play by Robert Williams III on the final possession — for the Celtics to secure the win while shorthanded.

With star guard Kemba Walker sidelined with a neck sprain and starting center Daniel Theis out with an illness, Smart would start at point guard and make a number of plays as a scorer and facilitator on his way to 17 points (on 7-12 shooting) and seven assists.

Kanter, though unable to defend on the perimeter as well as Theis and contributing to the reason Hield was able to be open on a couple of plays, bullied Kings center in the post on his way to 13 points (and nine rebounds).

As exciting of a game as it was for Celtics fans, the most riveting experience was the NBA debut of rookie point guard Tremont Waters. Seemingly already beloved by the locker room, community and Celtics head coach Brad Stevens, Waters had a rough night shooting the ball but consistently showed off his basketball IQ.

Waters — whom Brown has nicknamed “Young Oldhead” to highlight his on-court savvy, finished the night with seven points (on 2-7 shooting from the field), three assists, one steal, two blocks and two turnovers in 19 minutes.

The Celtics may have Walker back for their next game, as the guard could have potentially played against the Kings had Boston not wanted to take precaution.

However, the team that they’ll be facing — the Brooklyn Nets — will be missing a familiar face in star guard Kyrie Irving, which makes the game easier to win but nullifies some of the emotional energy that would surround it.