Recap: Spurs dominate Celtics despite late Boston run, Smart ejected

I’m really not sure there’s much analysis necessary for a game like this. The San Antonio Spurs started the game out hot and then cruised for most of the game against the Celtics.  It’s not that Boston didn’t fight until the end… they certainly played hard and made their runs.  In fact, they made a 16-0 run to cut a 23 point 4th quarter lead to 7. But the Spurs reinserted their starters and squashed all of Boston’s hopes.

Once again, it was the Celtics starters that struggled most. The Spurs stormed out of the gate with a 19-4 run to take the lead they’d nurse all night.  The Spurs killed the Celtics with ball movement all night long. Tiago Splitter spent the first half dissecting the Celtics from the post. Then it was basically the Kawhi Leonard show after that. He showed why teams will be lining up to throw max offers his way by playing lock-down defense (again) and dropping 22 points on 8-14 shooting to go along with 7 rebounds.

The major story tonight was Marcus Smart embarrassing himself by winding up and punching Matt Bonner in the nuts.

This is simply unacceptable. I know he’s probably frustrated, but this is simply not how you respond. I don’t care what the excuse is. Here’s a kid who’s been playing well and has been heralded as a leader on this team, and now he’s going to face a suspension with very important games left to play AND Indiana getting Paul George back.

This was just a stupid play by Smart. He’ll get a suspension, and deservedly so. I’d imagine it will be a couple of games.

The Green

Evan Turner scored 11 of his 17 in the 4th during a Celtics run that once again shows that they won’t go down unless you knock them out. The Spurs were up 23 and they relaxed after the Smart/Bonner incident. The Celtics immediately responded with a Turner-led 16-0 run that forced Gregg Popovich to re-insert most of his starters to finally finish the job.

Jae Crowder didn’t shoot it well (5-14) but he was a bright spot out there for a while in the 3rd quarter, starting the 2nd half in a small-ball lineup matched up against Leonard. I really like this kid, and I hope the Celtics can bring him back.

I’ll say it again… these Celtics won’t just roll over. Some teams will look at a 23 point 4th quarter deficit against the defending champs as an excuse to quit and fight another day.  Not these Celtics. They’ll fight right now, and they’ll fight until you win the fight. You have to knock this team out.

The Gross

I’m really, really disappointed in Marcus Smart. Maybe the most disappointing thing is that it will bring up the “character issues” thing again. And while I said tonight on Twitter that it will be deserved, I will say that he’s been a model citizen and he has earned all the accolades he’s gotten thus far.

If, in the end, this is a hot-headed lapse in judgement that he learns from and doesn’t repeat, then we can attribute this all to a rookie losing his cool in a very bad spot. He’ll get his punishment and he’ll deserve it. But if this is where it ends, then we can move on from it.

But Smart HAS to know that this just intensifies the spotlight on him. He has to be better than this.

The Greenlights

Bass slam in transition

Bradley slam off Crowder steal

 The Grid

• Second chance points: Boston 20 – San Antonio 6
• Points off turnovers: San Antonio 16- Boston 9
• Tiago Splitter: 18 points (8-10 fg), 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals

Miami won, and is starting to take control of the 7th seed. Or maybe it’s the 6th seed after Milwaukee’s 5th loss in a row. Indiana lost and, as of this moment, Charlotte is losing in Sacramento (I expect that to hold)… so the Celtics are still an 8th seed right now, 2 games behind Miami with 14 games left.

Box Score