The Celtics offense did not have enough left in the tank late on Saturday night as Boston fell to the Spurs 100-95 at TD Garden. The loss drops Boston back into a tie for the Knicks for the No. 2 seed in the East
The Celtics held a slim lead for much of the first three quarters largely on the backs of Jaylen Brown (27 points) and Derrick White’s (29 points) offense. The Spurs managed to stay in the game based on their defense early on before fighting back to take the lead in the fourth quarter. The back-and-forth affair went down to the wire before a clutch jumper from Victor Wembanyama and a crucial steal from De’Aaron Fox on Brown in the final minute put the game away for the visitors.
Fox and Wembanyama both finished with a team-high 21 points in the victory as the Spurs won despite shooting 40 percent from the field and 22 percent from 3-point range. White finished with a game-high 29 points and Brown had 27 points but the duo got little help on offense as the next high scorer was Luka Garza (11 points). Boston scored just 40 points in the second half of the defeat.
The setback closes out a 2-2 homestand for Boston. The Celtics now hit the road for a four-game road trip starting Monday night against the Pacers.
Here are four takeaways from the Celtics’ loss on Saturday night:
**Spurs misfire early and often from 3-pont range but Celtics can’t take advantage:** San Antonio does not have many weaknesses on the offensive end, but outside shooting is one of them. They ranked 20th in the NBA in 3-point percentage entering Saturday night, and Joe Mazzulla had the Celtics defense pack the paint and dare the Spurs to beat them from deep. The strategy paid off well early on as the visitors took over half of their field goal attempts from 3-point range, shooting just 6-of-27 (22.2 percent) which helped Boston build a five-point halftime lead. The shooting did not improve in the second half (22.7 percent on the night) but the Spurs were able to overcome those woes with their defense and some timely scoring late.
**Luke Kornet gets a tribute video in return:** The former Celtics center drew chants of Luke as he was announced as the starting center for San Antonio in his first game back at the Garden since leaving Boston in free agency this summer. A tribute video was played for Kornet midway at the end of the first quarter, leading to a standing ovation from the Garden crowd for the beloved big man. Kornet had an uneventful night on the court, finishing with just four points and six rebounds in 24 minutes.
**Celtics defense holds up well against Victor Wembanyama until late:** The Spurs phenom scored just five points in the first half, sticking around the perimeter on the offensive end. However, the 7-foot-5 center came alive in the third quarter, taking advantage of his size advantage over the likes of Jordan Walsh to score nine points in the period to help trim Boston’s lead. He ended up scoring 16 of his team-high 21 points in the second half including a go-ahead bucket over Neemias Queta with 1:33 remaining in regulation. He also added six rebounds and three blocks in his 27 minutes.
**A rare offensive struggle for Boston leads to loss:** The Celtics offense has been flying high for most of the past two months but they met a more formidable challenge against the Spurs defense on Saturday. San Antonio’s size took away easy looks in the paint in the pick-and-roll, and also kept Boston off the free throw line, where they managed just four attempts all night. With Payton Pritchard and Anfernee Simons having off shooting nights, the Celtics had to turn heavily to Brown and White to carry the offensive load. Those guys played a season high in minutes (43 and 42 respectively) but did not have enough left in the tank to carry Boston to the finish line.