The Boston Celtics were determined to enter the All-Star break on a positive note. They had a dismal start to the calendar year. The defending NBA champions lost six of their first 14 games. This included four losses on their home court.
Most of the Celtics are facing a looming seven-day reprieve. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are slated to play in Sunday’s All-Star Game in San Francisco. Despite this, the home team appeared sharp as ever in a 116-103 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. The win marks the seventh in Boston’s last eight outings.
“The last game before the All-Star break is always mentally one of the toughest games for the year,” Tatum told reporters after the game. “It’s a long season, you’re traveling a lot, guys got plans for vacation with their families and things like that. In recent years, we’ve dropped this game a few times. So, I thought it was really important the way that we started and made sure that we were locked in throughout the game.”
Boston shot its way to a 19-point halftime lead. The Spurs were led by a 23-point effort from De’Aaron Fox in just his third game with the team. They cut the deficit to as few as eight early in the fourth quarter. But the Celtics, fueled by the support of the home crowd, pulled away down the stretch to clinch their third-straight victory.
Once again it was Jayson Tatum who shined brightest on the hardwood, netting his third-straight game with at least 32 points after scoring 33 and 40 in his previous two outings. The 2024 All-NBA First-Team selection also pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds. He finished just three assists shy of his fifth-career triple-double.
“We value the fans, and we value their support, and they bring it every single night, whether it’s preseason, league pass, playoffs or the Finals,” said Tatum, whose team improved to 17-10 at the TD Garden. “We want to respect that. We want to play well at home. We want to win.”
The Celtics also benefited from the strong play of center Kristaps Porzingis. He posted 29 points despite an exhaustive effort on the defensive end. He was containing San Antonio sensation Victor Wembanyama. Derrick White added 19 points and nine assists for the Celtics, followed by Sam Hauser (12 points, seven rebounds) and Payton Pritchard (10 points, seven rebounds).
Monday’s game marked the fourth in a row Boston was without starting point guard Jrue Holiday (shoulder) and the second without Brown (knee). But there was one new face on the Celtics bench in veteran forward Torrey Craig, who was signed to the team earlier this month. Craig, who played in nine games for the Chicago Bulls this season, finished with six points in his Celtics debut.
“It was crazy,” Craig told reporters. “The atmosphere, the crowd, the fans. It’s just a joy to play in front of a crowd like that. And yeah, man, I’m just glad I made my debut in the Garden. I’m glad I hit my first shot.”
The Spurs, in their first and only visit to the TD Garden this season, were led by a 23-point effort from Fox, and a 17-point, 13-rebound performance from Wembanyama. The 7-foot, 1-inch, 21-year-old had limited success in the paint due to the defense of Porzingis, finishing well below his 24.3 point-per-game season average.
Even so, Porzingis was quick to tip his cap to the play of the young Frenchman.
“The impact that he has on the defensive end, just with his wingspan and his length is, like, historic,” Porzingis said. “Like, we haven’t seen this, no? So even me, I felt like I need to give him something to get the shot off and, yeah, he’s just a special player.”
Both teams will now enjoy a seven-day layoff with Boston (39-16) returning to action on Feb. 20 when it travels to face the struggling Philadelphia 76ers (20-34) and San Antonio (23-29) hosting the Phoenix Suns (26-28).
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