Coming off a gritty win over the Los Angeles Lakers, the Spurs traveled to Boston to face the Celtics. Devin Vassell would remain out with an adductor injury. Just like the Lakers game, this game turned out to be a brick competition mixed in with solid defense. Both teams shot 41% and under from the field, and the Spurs shot 23% from three. After trailing by five at halftime, the Spurs’ deficit increased to nine. However, thanks to a mini-run from Victor Wembanyama, the deficit was quickly cut. De’Aaron Fox nailed a stepback jumper to beat the third quarter buzzer, and the Spurs entered the fourth trailing by two. Thanks to the Spurs’ lockdown defense, the Celtics managed to drop only 20 points in each of the third and fourth quarters. Keldon Johnson splashed a go-ahead three with 2:15 remaining, only to be met with a Jaylen Brown layup on the other end. With 1:33 remaining, Wemby went into clutch mode. He drained a fadeaway jumper to give the Spurs the lead, and then others stepped up in between. With under a minute remaining, Brown had secured a rebound and was dribbling past mid-court when Fox picked his pocket. Julian Champagnie finished under the basket and made the Celtics use a timeout with the Spurs up by four. After two Derrick White free throws, the Spurs were only up by two and called upon Wemby once again, and once again, he delivered. He drained another clutch jumper to help seal the Spurs’ win, 100-95.
Victor Wembanyama dropped 21 points, six rebounds, three blocks, and a dime off the bench. Due to the continued minutes restriction, Wemby is still coming off the bench. He struggled to get going early, but made up for it with some key highlight plays. Most of all, he scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half. It seems Mitch Johnson has learned his lesson from benching him in crunch time against the Memphis Grizzlies, because Wemby has now played in the last three minutes of both the Lakers and Celtics games. Without him, it is hard to see how the Spurs win this game. Vic gave shades of his clutch heroics against the Chicago Bulls.
POSTER ALERT! Vic posterizes Hugo Gonzalez while cutting to the paint!
Nothing but net! Wemby catches and fades away on Jordan Walsh for the silky jumper!
TWO-WAY PLAYER! Vic stays patient on transition defense and rejects Brown. Then, he finishes on the other end with a one-handed slam!
CLUTCH WEMBY! Wemby nails the first clutch jumper over Neemias Queta to give the Spurs a two-point lead, and then nails another jumper over Baylor Scheierman to put the game away!
De’Aaron Fox dropped 21 points (9-16 FG), nine rebounds, six assists, and a steal. In terms of efficiency, this was a much-needed bounce-back game for D-Fox. This is the D-Fox fans are accustomed to seeing: making defenders look silly, draining buckets from everywhere on the court, and dishing it out with ease. He can also pickpocket ball-handlers, including superstar players, in crunch-time. The pickpocket on Brown was a huge momentum shift, and it led to the victory.
D3’AARON FOX! D-Fox steps into the open three early in the first quarter!
Early in the third, D-Fox reached a huge milestone of scoring his 12,000th point!
Here’s the Twitter/X version of his highlights, including his star defense late in the fourth!
Keldon Johnson dropped a double-double off the bench: 18 points and 10 rebounds to go along with a dime and a steal. Spurs fans all say in unison, “KJ FOR 6MOTY!” He is truly the engine that drives the team’s competitive spirit and creates offense when the team goes cold. Besides the hustle plays, he also never gives up on the glass. His biggest play of the game was his go-ahead three with under two minutes left in the game!
Julian Champagnie dropped a double-double: 12 points and 13 rebounds to go along with three assists and a block. Even though he struggled from three, Julian made his impact in the paint and on the glass. Three of his rebounds were offensive, which resulted in second-chance points. His biggest play of the game came with under fifteen seconds left: He swatted Derrick White’s three-point attempt to clinch the game for the silver and black!
Stephon Castle dropped nine points, five assists, two rebounds, and a steal. Steph struggled against this fierce Celtic defense, shooting three of 16 from the field. The Celtics were leaving him open at the three-point line, and Steph could not make them pay. Nonetheless, Steph made his impact on the defensive end. Providing solid on-ball defense and being crafty in the lanes. He will look to have a bounce-back game against Minnesota.
AND-ONE! Steph catches the dump-off pass from Fox in the paint and somehow finishes through the contact for the and-one finish!
PICKED HIS POCKET! Steph locks down Brown, swipes the ball, and finishes it on the other end with a jam!
This was a great win for the guys in silver and black! Despite another off-shooting night, the team locked in defensively in the second half to limit a playoff team to under 100 points again. If the clutch-time plan is to leave the ball in Wemby’s hands down the stretch, it seems likely that it will help secure clutch-time wins. Somehow, this team needs to get back to the hot perimeter shooting it had early in the season if it wants to continue to stack up wins. A quick turnaround awaits in Minnesota.
Finally, here are the full game highlights.
The Spurs have another SEGABABA against the Minnesota Timberwolves at 6:00 P.M. (CST) on FDSN-SW.
See More: