Crowning achievement

Doc Rivers correctly predicted that "once [Delonte West] gets out on the floor, he's going all out." And wisely, Rivers did not limit West's minutes in his return from a lower back bruise that forced the point guard to miss four games.

With West playing 39 minutes and running the team effectively, the Celtics found themselves engaged in a close game with Sacramento last night at TD Banknorth Garden. But West and the Celtics could not do enough down the stretch, falling to the Kings, 96-91.

"We're lacking our sense of urgency down the stretch of games," said West (25 points, six assists). "We have to have the mentality on the floor to know when we definitely have to get a stop. We don't have that mentality right now. It's going to continue to cost us games until we do."

The Celtics entered the fourth holding a 67-62 lead, but lost their advantage midway through the quarter when the Kings staged a 10-2 run. Ron Artest (19 points, 11 rebounds) capped the spurt with a 19-footer that pushed the visitors ahead, 83-80, with 3:26 remaining. Although West tied the game with a 3-pointer on Boston's next possession, the home team never regained the lead.

West made a smart outlet pass to Ryan Gomes for a 3-point play that cut Sacramento's lead to 2 (91-89) with 21.8 seconds remaining. Then it was all Kevin Martin (27 points) and Brad Miller in the final few minutes as they helped the Kings essentially close the game on a 9-3 run. After Gomes's 3-point play, Martin stretched the Kings' lead back to 5 with his own 3-point play. Martin added a couple of free throws for good measure as the Kings snapped a seven-game losing streak.

The postgame scene in the Celtics' locker room was bizarre, especially for a team on a six-game skid. Corinne Grousbeck, wife of owner Wyc Grousbeck, invited nine of her friends into the locker room for an impromptu autograph session. More than a few awkward moments followed. A couple players were asked to sign while still wearing towels. One woman received an autograph on her left shoulder blade. Paul Pierce and Wally Szczerbiak managed to sign outside the locker room . . . Szczerbiak (sprained ankles, sore left knee) will not return to action until next week. As with Pierce, the Celtics want to wait until Szczerbiak feels 100 percent, not wanting to risk further injury. "It didn't feel right when he got in today, so we decided to wait until Monday or Wednesday," said Rivers. "If he [couldn't] play [last night], he can't play this weekend obviously." . . . It sounds as if Szczerbiak will return at the same time as Brian Scalabrine, who suffered a sprained right medial collateral ligament and bruised right meniscus against the Indiana Pacers Jan. 10. Scalabrine plans to test his knee tomorrow. If there is no swelling, Scalabrine could be back for Monday night's home game against the San Antonio Spurs. Otherwise, look for him Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks . . . While Rivers is happy to have Pierce around, he would be happier if Pierce attended, but did not participate in, the All-Star Game if selected. "You can still go and just not play," said Rivers. "So that would be fine by me." . . . Al Jefferson (23 points, 11 rebounds) and Gomes (17 points, 10 rebounds) posted double-doubles as Boston outrebounded Sacramento, 41-35.