Celtics look to continue getting it done against weaker teams

NBA players, much like NBA fans, have no problem discerning between good teams and those that are shall we say, success-challenged?

The Sacramento Kings (24-49) are indeed the latter, having already secured a spot in the NBA draft lottery by failing to make the playoffs for the 12th straight season.

In what has been a night-to-night grind for the Celtics, tonight’s game has the potential on paper at least, to be an easy breezy win for Boston right?

The Celtics (49-23) know all too well how those so-called “easy wins” can easily become tough-to-swallow defeats.

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Boston went through that last season, losing 108-92 at Sacramento in a game in which the Kings were without their best player DeMarcus Cousins (suspension) who now plays for the New Orleans Pelicans, and the Celtics came in riding a seven-game winning streak.

Fast forward to tonight, with the Celtics coming in with wins in three of their last four games which includes the last two being of the come-from-behind variety over playoff-caliber opponents in Oklahoma City and Portland.

The Kings are a different kind of team, obviously.

But that shouldn’t prevent Boston from approaching tonight’s game any different than previous matchups.

For most of this season, Boston has treated teams that have struggled with a similar level of respect shown to elite clubs.

Boston comes into tonight’s game with a 26-5 record against teams that currently have a record below-.500.

And with 10 games remaining, Boston will face five such teams to close out the season which includes tonight’s opponent, the Sacramento Kings.

But as bad as the Kings have been this season, they have shown signs of improvement.

Since returning from the all-star break, Sacramento has a 6-10 record with wins over defending NBA champion Golden State and playoff contender Miami Heat.

And of the 10 losses, five came by seven points or less.

Even though a loss won’t have a significantly adverse impact on Boston’s playoff seeding, success for this group regardless of the opponent, has value.

Boston’s leading scorer Kyrie Irving underwent a “minimally invasive” procedure on Saturday to remove a tension wire in his left knee that was irritating his left patella tendon.

Team officials said he’ll be out 3-6 weeks which means there’s a chance he’ll be back at the start of the playoffs.

Boston, which has 10 games between now and the start of the playoffs without Irving, looks to continue to build off the impressive 8-4 record they have had without Irving in the lineup this season.

And part of that success involves not taking any foe lightly.

“Continue to play hard, continue to play together,” said Boston’s Marcus Morris.

Oh yeah, one more thing.

“And don’t look past those guys,” Morris added. “They got guys coming in, and they got guys who are going to play hard too. We gotta get those games we’re supposed to win.”

Doing so is what good teams are supposed to do, particularly against success-challenged foes like the Kings.