Jayson Tatum returned to the lineup against the Spurs after sitting out four days to rest his sprained ankle.
Jayson Tatum returned to the lineup against the Spurs after sitting out four days to rest his sprained ankle.Ronald Cortes/Getty
SAN ANTONIO — The Celtics took two full days off following their win over the Suns and seemingly needed all their reacquired energy to fight off the Spurs Saturday night.
With Jayson Tatum back from a one-game absence, the Celtics led for the final 44:58 but the shorthanded Spurs made numerous runs that almost forced coach Joe Mazzulla to go back to Tatum with five minutes left.
Tatum returned to lead the Celtics with 29 points along with 10 rebounds and 8 assists while Luke Kornet dominated the paint with 15 points, including a key layup, leading Boston to its eighth consecutive win, 121-111, at Frost Bank Center.
With the victory, the Celtics clinched the Atlantic Division and more importantly the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. They would have home-court advantage in a potential second-round series with the Knicks.
Chris Paul scored 8 consecutive points midway through the fourth quarter to help slice the Celtics lead to 115-107 but Kornet added a layup and Tatum hit two free throws to erase any suspense.
Kornet pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds while Jrue Holiday added 21 points and Jaylen Brown scored 14 in 30 minutes. Keldon Johnson led San Antonio with 23 points and former UConn standout Stephon Castle tallied 22.
The Spurs were pesky and began the third quarter with a 6-0 run to cut the Celtics’ lead to 64-58. Kornet, whose tenaciousness around the basket gave Boston several extra possessions, countered with three buckets and Holiday added a triple to increase the lead to 11.
Tatum drained a 3-pointer and Baylor Scheierman buried a corner three to increase the lead to 17. Defensively, the Celtics implemented a zone that confused the Spurs, who tried countering with 3-point attempts. San Antonio was 10 for 33 from beyond the arc after three quarters, with Castle and Jeremy Sochan a combined 1 for 11.
Boston led by as many as 17 in the third quarter but the Spurs stayed close, with Keldon Johnson slicing the lead to 94-81 with a layup in the final seconds.
Boston used an 11-2 run to begin the second quarter to take a 47-31 lead following Jaylen Brown’s jumper. The Spurs countered with a 14-2 surge as the Celtics were sloppy with the ball and botched a pair of fastbreaks.
Castle consistently attacked the Boston defense and led San Antonio with 13 points at halftime while Johnson, Tatum’s teammate on the 2020 Olympic team, added 12 on 5-for-5 shooting.
After watching the lead dwindle to 4, the Celtics responded with a 15-7 quarter-ending run as Brown and Derrick White added 3-pointers. Tatum tallied 12 points along with 6 rebounds and 5 assists while Kristaps Porzingis added 11 but also picked up three fouls.
The Celtics committed just eight fouls in the first half but it resulted in 13 San Antonio free throws, which kept the Spurs close. San Antonio also scored 12 points off seven Boston turnovers.
Boston was facing a shorthanded Spurs team without De’Aaron Fox (finger surgery) and Victor Wembanyama (blood clot in shoulder) but they still had enough young talent to present resistance throughout the first half.
With four full days off to rest his sprained left ankle, Tatum returned to the lineup after sitting out the Phoenix win and played mostly distributor. He didn’t appear as aggressive in driving to the basket but was able to shuttle the ball to teammates for open threes.
The main beneficiary was the rejuvenated Holiday, who led the Celtics with 16 points at halftime, including four 3-pointers.
With two full days off, the Celtics looked energized in the early going, jumping out to a 30-19 lead, with consecutive threes from Holiday. Once again, Mazzulla opted for Scheierman in his second unit and he contributed a 3-pointer along with 2 rebounds and 2 assists in eight first-half minutes.
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.