Recap: Celtics punish Spurs, avenge 6 year losing streak

Jaylen flying

For Celtics fans under 30, wins against San Antonio are hard to come by. You have to go back 6 years to find the last victory over Pop and company. Boston’s young guns don’t give a damn about history. Fueled by a red-hot Kyrie Irving and strong play in the paint and on the boards, the Celtics beat the Spurs tonight, 108-94.

Game Flow

The offense was cooking in the 1st quarter. Two words: ball movement.

I’ll give you two more words: Al Horford (14 pts, 7-11 FG, 13 reb, 5 assts).

Celts put up 30 and led by 4 after one. Brad Stevens trotted out Larkin, Rozier, Smart, Tatum and Theis to start the 2nd quarter and it wasn’t pretty. San Antonio ripped off an 11-0 run. Boston settled down once Irving (24 pts, 10-16 FG, 6 assts) returned to the floor and finished the half strong thanks to TWO 3-point plays by Marcus Smart and Kyrie. C’s by 5 at the break.

The Kyrie show continued… Irving opened the 3rd quarter with a couple of 3-point bombs and the Celtics lead reached double-digits. The Spurs made a predictable run later in the quarter (did you know that Rudy Gay is still a viable NBA player?). But Boston didn’t waver and TWO 3-pointers by Jaylen Brown (18 points, 6-11 FG) and Smart pushed the lead back into double digits. Noticed a pattern here?

Terry Rozier was having a pretty awful night until he ripped off 8 straight points midway through the 4th quarter and stretched the lead to 19. The Celtics stayed in control and coasted to the win.

Some eye-popping statistics: Boston’s 52 points in the paint and 54-40 rebounding advantage.

Oh, I should mention that Kawhi Leonard did not play.

Hot

This just in… Kyrie Irving is a spectacular talent. Here are a few of the many head-shaking plays he made tonight.

Not

Tito laying bricks at the rim

Did you know Theis is German for denial?

Box score

 

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