SACRAMENTO — When the Celtics left Boston to come here on Tuesday, inclement weather caused them to sit on their airplane for about two hours before it finally took off.

The team arrived in California after a long day of travel and held a brief night practice, with coach Brad Stevens hoping it would help rid some of the cobwebs. But on Wednesday night the Celtics looked slow and sluggish against the undermanned Kings, as a 108-92 loss snapped their seven-game winning streak and started this four-game road trip off on a sour note.

The Kings were without star big man DeMarcus Cousins, who received a one-game suspension after receiving his 16th technical foul of the season Monday night, and forward Rudy Gay, who is injured and out for the year. Then in the second quarter they lost starting guard Ty Lawson to a strained hamstring, making their chances of pulling off an upset even more improbable.

But they surged back from a 10-point deficit by attacking the basket and drilling 3-pointers at key moments. Sacramento had 46 points in the paint and made 10 shots from beyond the arc.

Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics with 26 points and seven assists but made just 6 of 16 shots. As a team, the Celtics shot 39.7 percent from the field and committed 18 turnovers.

Sacramento pulled into a 49-49 tie at halftime thanks in large part to a 10-0 run. In the first half, the Celtics made 28.6 percent of their 3-pointers and committed 10 turnovers.

The Kings started quickly in the third quarter, as a dunk by Ben McLemore capped a 10-4 run that made it 59-53 and led to a Boston timeout. The Celtics reclaimed the lead with some improbable 3-point shooting, as Amir Johnson and Marcus Smart combined to hit three in a row.

But Matt Barnes then answered with back-to-back 3-pointers, helping Sacramento take a 77-71 lead to the fourth.

The Kings led, 80-71, when Thomas checked in with 10:55 left in the fourth. His late-game dominance has been well-chronicled, and in this game just 76 seconds passed before the deficit was whittled to 2 points, 80-78.

But the Kings responded with an emphatic answer, unfurling a game-defining 16-1 run that was capped by an acrobatic, one-handed alley-oop by Willie Cauley-Stein.

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As Thomas sat in a chair here at the sparkling new Golden 1 Center, he was asked if he ever wondered how things could have been different with the Kings.

Thomas, who was selected by Sacramento with the last pick of the 2011 draft, has blossomed into a two-time All-Star in Boston, and Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins has blossomed into perhaps the best big man in the NBA.

So, Isaiah, do you ever think about what it could have been like if you had stayed?

“Not really, because they were pushing me out of here,’’ Thomas said. “They didn’t like what I brought to the table. It was always, ‘He’s too small. He’s a liability on defense. He shoots too much.’ It was always something. So I had to get out of here, even though I loved the city and the people in it . . . It was my time to go because they didn’t want me.’’

The Celtics’ game on Wednesday was Thomas’s first against the Kings here since he became one of the league’s elite players. He was traded to Boston by the Suns midway through the 2014-15 season, the day before the Celtics played at Sacramento. And last season these teams met in Mexico City.

Now, of course, Thomas is an All-Star who is chasing an NBA scoring title. When he was asked if he was eager to show the fans here what they were missing, he shook his head.

“They know,’’ he said. “They see it. So I don’t got to prove anything to them.’’

In July 2014, following Thomas’s third season with the Kings, the point guard was a restricted free agent.

He agreed on a four-year, $27 million deal with the Suns. The Kings did not plan to match it, and Thomas didn’t want them to.

Sacramento and Phoenix ultimately agreed to a sign-and-trade in which the Kings received a trade exception as well as the rights to the second-round draft pick Alex Oriakhi, a former University of Connecticut standout.

“They didn’t want me, but it just says a lot,’’ Thomas said. “I’ve continued to work no matter what the situation was. I always will have a love and appreciation for this city. They gave me my first chance. The city and the community took me in with open arms and there’s a lot of people that treated me great here, and there was a few people that took it for granted. But it’s all good. I’m happy where I am now.’’

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Count the Celtics among the many admirers of the Patriots’ stirring Super Bowl win on Sunday.

“You could sense that if they had the ball enough times they weren’t going to lose, and it was fun to watch,’’ coach Brad Stevens said. “It’s really cool to see what they’ve been able to put together over there, and obviously when you’ve got an all-time great like [Tom] Brady, and [Bill] Belichick with what he’s been able to do, just a special culture and winning program over there.’’

Thomas attended several Patriots games this season and has become friends with Brady as well as running back LeGarrette Blount, who is a frequent guest at Celtics home games.

“That was unbelievable,’’ Thomas said of the Super Bowl. “That was probably the best game I’ve ever seen, especially the comeback the Patriots did. It was unbelievable.’’

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Shooting guard Avery Bradley remained in Boston still bothered by soreness from his Achilles’ strain as the Celtics began this four-game trip.

“He’s had a couple of moments where it’s been two steps forward and a step back,’’ Stevens said. “Still structurally all good. The MRIs and scans and everything have looked good all along. Just obviously a strain and something that like we said earlier, it’s going to be a progression to get back. And our doctor met with him [Tuesday] night along with our training staff, and everybody else and made the call to keep him back. I originally thought he was coming on the trip [Tuesday] afternoon. So that was a last, last-minute call.’’

Bradley has missed 15 of the last 16 games. Boston has found a rhythm recently, however, as it entered Wednesday riding a seven-game winning streak. Stevens said it appears likely that Bradley will be sidelined until after the All-Star break.

“If he comes back before that, it might be a surprise now, just because of the fact that by the time we get back in Boston we don’t have a practice,’’ Stevens said. “And I’m guessing that would be part of the progression. But don’t hold me to that because I’m not on the medical staff, and if they feel like he’s progressing at the right rate and want to fly him to Dallas for practice [on Sunday] and then get a warm-up in the day before the game, and maybe he does play next week. I would think that it’s unlikely’’

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The Kings were without Cousins, who was given a one-game suspension after receiving his 16th technical foul of the season in Sacramento’s win over the Bulls on Monday . . . Former Celtic Evan Turner broke his hand during the Trail Blazers’ game against the Mavericks on Tuesday, so he will be sidelined when Boston plays in Portland on Thursday.

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.