While the Spurs didn’t seem prepared to match the Celtics energy early in the game, they eventually managed to shake off the tryptophan from yesterday’s turkey and continued their streak of 9 straight wins on the road.
The Celtics began the game about as hot as possible, as an early 18-2 run gave the team in green an early 14 point lead. AB had 5 boards, Jae chipped in 10 points, and the Celts finished the quarter shooting 62%, compared to the Spurs 42%.
The 2nd quarter has been the bane of this Celtics team this season, as they’ve been outscored during this period now 11 out of their 16 games. While Jae Crowder was proving that this may be the healthiest he’s been in a while, Jaylen Brown was displaying some tough D on Kawhi Leonard AND finishing at the rim +1 (still missing FT’s though). It was almost easy to forget the game had been slipping away from the Green. At one point, the Celtics had gone 5 minutes straight without a basket. They eventually limped into halftime with a 2 point lead, 48-46.
Unfortunately the squad didn’t wake up from their mid-game slumber until about halfway through the 3rd , and the Spurs-train had too much momentum to stop by then. An Avery Bradley 3-pointer eventually put the Celtics up 79-78, but the Green Team ultimately couldn’t match the talented Spurs. The Celtics have now lost 10 straight to the team from San Antonio.
Final Score: Spurs 109, Celtics 103
The Green
- Jae Crowder 4/9 from 3-point land
- Amir Johnson & Al Horford managed to hold Pau Gasol & LaMarcus Aldridge to a paltry 10 points on 4/17 shooting combined
The Gross
- The D allowed a Patty Mills buzzer-beater 3-pointer at the end of the 3rd, leaving the Celtics down 1 going into the final frame
- This can (in part) be blamed on some questionable officiating, but the Celtics had just about 7 minutes left in the 4th when they shot their first FT of the half. They finished with just two attempts in the entire second half.
- While down 3 with just under a minute to go, the Celts failed to switch on D and allowed Patty Mills to drill another one from downtown – putting the Spurs up 6 with :44 seconds to go
- David Lee had 15 points and 12 rebounds. DAVID LEE.
Greenlights
Horford drives baseline for the slam
Horford takes it baseline for an early-game #SunLifeDunk4Diabetes! RT & $1 is donated to diabetes prevention. pic.twitter.com/Kt2pL0cMwl
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 25, 2016
IT to AB for the casual alley-oop
IT ⬆️, AB ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/JAKIg0PnQD
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 25, 2016
Jaylen Brown finishes at the rim with contact
Jaylen Brown takes it to the rack and finishes the tough layup through contact! pic.twitter.com/KYXurlmLPT
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 25, 2016
Horford rises above Spurs D for slam
Al Horford rises above the San Antonio defense for the loud slam! pic.twitter.com/dSGntru2Lc
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 25, 2016
Top Performers
Isaiah Thomas – 24pts, 8 assists – finishes the game a +6
Kawhi Leonard – 25pts, 10 rebounds, 4 assists
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