Tommy was right on — the Spurs move the ball beautifully.
Tonight’s game was pretty close through the first three quarters, until Tim Duncan did some Tim Duncan things and took over. Final, 104-92 San Antonio.
Even if Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Tiago Splitter were all sent home early for the All-Star break, the rotation change didn’t stop San Antonio from getting out to a hot start. Behind a nine-point, five-assist first quarter from Marco Bellielli, the Spurs took a quick lead. Making matters worse, the C’s started off 1-13 from the field before back-to-back Rondo threes helped cut the lead in half. Jeff Green, rather predictably, shot 1-7 in the first, along with two turnovers. He’s kinda of like a video game cheat code: Up, down, up down, up, down…
The Celtics caught up early in the second quarter, as the pace picked up on both ends. Jerry Bayless spearheaded a nice stint from the bench, continuously running high picks with either Kelly Olynyk or Kris Humphries. Tonight, the Boston point guard on an early triple-double watch was actually Bayless: four points, four boards, six assists at halftime. Olynyk had 10 points and six boards at the half.
Both teams kept up with each other in the third, as the Celtics remained a few points behind for the entire 12 minutes. Towards the end of the quarter, Kelly Olynyk reached double digits in scoring, making it his second career double-double, and the first time he’s in back-to-back games. Progress!
Even with Parker and Ginobili out, it was expected that the Spurs would but their foot on the throttle a little bit at some point. That happened around the nine-minute mark of the fourth, due to the casual dominance of Tim Duncan. Mike Gorman mentioned that tonight could be Duncan’s last game in Boston, if he retires after the season. It’s odd to think that he’s been playing in the NBA since the late 90s, yet has only made the trip to Boston 16 times. That makes sense, since inter-conference teams play each other only twice a year, but it still seems weird to me (I was 7 when he entered the league, could be why).
The Spurs closed out the remaining minutes the way a championship contender should when playing a 19-win team. Duncan stayed hot, finishing with a game-high 25 points. Diaw, Bellinelli, Joseph, and Mills all also scored in double figures.
A quiet night for Jared Sullinger, and really the starters as a unit. Rondo had 16 points on four made threes, which was fun to watch. But Sully posted only four points and seven rebounds. Jeff Green finished 4-17 from the field.
The Green
- Kelly Olynyk had his second straight double-double (15 points, 10 boards). Also his second career double-double.
- Jerryd Bayless had his most well-rounded game as a Celtic: 11 points, five rebounds, nine assists.
- Combined, the Celtics’ bench had 44 points, 21 boards, 14 assists.
The Gross
- Celtics started just 1-13 from the field.
- 19 points, zero assists for C’s starters at halftime.
- Boston let the Spurs shoot 9-19 from three, 47%
The Grid
- Chris Johnson played only 12 minutes, took only one shot.
- C’s committed 14 turnovers, to Spurs’ 10
- C’s out-assisted Spurs 24-22
Not a lot of Greenlights tonight, so I’ll share this tweet instead:
This is the Celtics final home game before the trade deadline. Who do you think will/won’t be here when they return to the Garden?
— Jessica Camerato (@JCameratoNBA) February 13, 2014
Predictions?
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