BOSTON -- A runaway start for the Boston Celtics turned into a tight finish.Al Horford led the Celtics early and late, with 26 points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots to lead Boston to a 97-92 win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.He just was aggressive. He knocked down his shots. He did what we needed him to do and he carried us tonight, said Isaiah Thomas, who scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half to help the Celtics hold off the Kings.Jae Crowder added 16 points and Avery Bradley had 15 points and nine assists for Boston, which needed a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to pull away and finish off the Kings.Sacramento continued to scrap until the end. Horford helped seal it with six seconds left when he swatted away 3-point attempt by DeMarcus Cousins, then hit a pair of foul shots for Bostons final points.I know that he tried to draw something there. I just stayed solid and not let him get a shot off, Horford said. Im just trying to be active -- as active as I can be.Sacramento outrebounded Boston 51-44, but hurt itself in the final period with turnovers, missed shots and a technical foul called on Matt Barnes as Boston surged ahead.Cousins led Sacramento with 28 points and nine rebounds. Darren Collison and Rudy Gay scored 13 apiece for the Kings.Cousins is Cousins. Hes going to score, Boston coach Brad Stevens said. Hes to get 28 points or whatever he got, but you cant let those other guys have huge nights too.The Kings were playing for the first time since Monday. Sacramentos six-game road trip was interrupted when Wednesdays game at Philadelphia was postponed because of condensation on the floor.The layoff showed early as the Celtics went up by 13 points in the first period, but the Kings regrouped and rallied to tie it by the end of the quarter.Its almost like we have to get hit first for us to react. Its not good for us, Cousins said. Were in the situation where we have to come in and be aggressive every night. If we dont figure this out, were going to continue to have these kind of games and just another losing season.BIG ALIt was Horfords best game since leaving Atlanta to sign with Boston over the summer. His previous high for scoring with the Celtics was 20 points and he hadnt blocked more for Boston since getting four against Brooklyn in his Celtics debut.Hes all over the place. He covers a lot of ground. He calls out calls. I think hes a competitive guy and thats proved in his winning track record, Stevens said. One thing about Al -- hes always in the stands. His arms are always long. He takes up a lot of space and he reacts quickly to what is going on.SLOW-DOWN OFFENSEThe Kings had their chances to win in Boston for the first time since 2007. They didnt help themselves down the stretch, making just 6 of 23 in the fourth quarter and going without a field goal from Gays layup with 8:33 remaining until Gay hit a 3-pointer with 4:51 left to play pulled Sacramento within 84-81.We got off to a really slow start, Gay said. Theyre a good team but we shot ourselves in the foot today.BIG BENCHSacramento reserves outscored Bostons 33-12. Barnes led the Kings reserves with 12 points and sparking Sacramentos rally in the first quarter after the dreadful start.Their bench crushed us when they came in, Stevens said. I didnt think we responded to attacking them well or defending them well with their energy in that group.TIP-INSKings: The Kings closed the first quarter on a 13-0 run to tie it at 29-all entering the second period. ... ... Sacramento entered the game having lost eight straight visits to Boston.Celtics:Horford scored 12 of Bostons 29 points in the first quarter. ... Thomas led the Celtics in scoring the previous 14 straight games.UP NEXT:Kings: Continue a long road trip Sunday at New York.Celtics: At Philadelphia on Saturday in the first of three straight on the road Custom Washington Nationals Jerseys . Didier Drogba gave away the penalty that put Senegal one goal away from a major upset, but the veteran striker will get another chance -- probably his last -- at the World Cup after Salomon Kalous injury-time strike sealed the Ivorians place in Brazil next year. Daniel Hudson Jersey . Breaking three of his own world records on his way to winning in Paris, Chan silenced the critics and left the audiences standing in appreciation and awe. https://www.cheapnationals.com/1067r-tres-barrera-jersey-nationals.html . Down by seven with 90 seconds left in regulation, thats where they looked comfortable. Jake Noll Jersey . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. Stitched Nationals Jerseys . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth.Steve Evans said only the save of the season prevented Leeds taking maximum points against second-placed Middlesbrough on Monday night. Souleymane Doukaras second-half header was clawed out by Dimi Konstantopoulos, who also denied the Leeds striker in added time as a goalless draw kept Boro off top spot in the Championship on Monday night.The visitors had chances of their own before losing Ben Gibson to a late red card, Jordan Rhodes missing the best of them and also seeing a first-half goal controversially ruled out, but Evans afterwards told Sky Sports his side deserved to win. He said: Boro have classy footballers and theyre going to have little spells. They had 10 minutes in the first half and 10 in the second half, but thats 20 minutes out of 95 and for the other parts of the game, were largely on top.The keeper produces the save of the season from Doukaras header. Its a remarkable save and its a remarkable save in added time, too. Highlights from the goalless draw between Leeds and Middlesbrough They dont conede many and you can understand why, but people wil look on television tonight and say things are happening at Leeds that are very positive. My players deserved to win tonight, but didnt.There might be one or two chances thyll be disappointed with, but weve restricted them and full credit especially to my offensive players tonight.We only got a point for our efforts but its a wonderful performance compared to the last time we faced this team [Leeds lost 3-0 at Boro in September].Rhodes goal did not register after the officials wrongly ruled the ball was out before Emilio Nsue crossed from the right, a decision Aitor Karanka said was difficult to understand. Reaction from Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka Im starting to get a bit tired with some of the decisions, said Karanka, whose side are now five games without a win.ddddddddddddIt seems to be easy for the referee and with the yellow cards, its sometimes difficult to understand whats happening on the pitch. Rhodes (right) also missed two second-half chances to win it for Boro The Boro boss predicted an upturn in results, saying: We had a lot of chances to score and when playing in that way, we will start winning games because the team has played really well against a really good team with really good players.Promotion is going to be at the end of April or May. Now, we are in February and were in a good position. Were playing the way I like to play and with the players that I have, we will win games again. Middlesbrough keeper Dimitrios Konstantopoulos and man-of-the-match Toumani Diagouraga give their reaction Also See: Leeds 0-0 Middlesbrough Championship fixtures Table Live on Sky Get Sky Sports ' ' '