The Boston Celtics went into San Antonio Saturday night and took care of business for the 8th straight win, 5th in a row on the road, improving their road record to 31-7. The Celtics were led by Jayson Tatum’s stellar play, a big night from Jrue Holiday, and Luke Kornet having a career night to push past the Spurs 121-111.
The Celtics were able to take an early lead in the first quarter thanks to the 3 point shooting of Jrue Holiday knocking down 3 of his 5 three pointers in the first quarter. The Celtics did not trail for the rest of the game.
Tatum had 29 points leading all scorers while coming off an ankle injury, and Kornet had 16 rebounds, a career high and led all players on the floor.
Takeaways
**Tatum looks healthy:**Tatum was out for the Celtics last game against the Phoenix Suns with an ankle injury he suffered earlier this week against the Kings. Tatum came out today looking completely healthy going out and playing 36 minutes, putting up 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists.
**Bench delivers again:**Boston’s bench production has been a huge difference maker during the 2024-2025 season, and that production continued Saturday night. With Payton Prichard out (hip flexor tightness) and Al Horford out (big toe sprain), Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet stepped up and played big minutes to help the Celtics stay hot. Hauser played 24 minutes scoring 11 points and going 4-13 from the field (3-11 from 3 Point range).
Luke Kornet had himself a career night for the Celtics. Kornet played 31 minutes for the Celtics and posted his 5th career double double and had a career high in rebounds. Kornet put up 15 points and 16 rebounds for the Celtics and was the difference maker for the Celtics down the stretch.
“He carried us through a tough stretch in the beginning of the season,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzula said. “and he continues to make big-time plays for us. We’re really grateful to have him.”
Joe Mazzulla on Luke Kornet, who had 15 points, a career-high 16 rebounds, and 4 assists in the Celtics’ win over the Spurs:
“I thought Luke’s physicality, I mean, he had some offensive rebounds, he had some rim protection blocks. I think he just continues to get better and… https://t.co/YVS3W8R25B pic.twitter.com/CUqEWj0dzF
— Bobby Krivitsky (@BobbyKrivitsky) March 30, 2025
Celtics rookie Baylor Scheierman played a solid 18 minutes for the Celtics putting up 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists off the bench.
Key Moment
The turning point in the game was when Kornet recorded a rebound and threw an outlet pass to Tatum for a layup that put the Celtics up 94-78 at the end of the 3rd quarter.
Jellyyyyyyyy 🍇 pic.twitter.com/32svwUjNsn
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 30, 2025
Key Stat
The most important stat in this game was the rebounding differential between the Celtics and the Spurs. The Celtics out-rebounded the Spurs 54-35 (15-10 offensive rebounds) giving them a huge advantage on the glass.
Things I Liked
**Luke Kornet:**Luke Kornet was the biggest part of this Celtics win. His tenacity with rebounding the ball, both on offense and defense, gave the Celtics numerous opportunities in this game.
**Jrue Holiday big game:**Jrue Holiday had a huge night with his 21 points. He had three 3 pointers in the first quarter and finished with five 3 pointers on the night.
**Lots of assists:**The Celtics, as a team, had 32 assists on the night as a team. That number is almost 6 more than the season average for 2024-2025.
**Tatum looks health:**Tatum missed the last game for the Celtics with an ankle injury. That did not seem to affect him much tonight. He played 36 minutes and was the leading scorer with 29 points on the night.
Things I Didn’t Like
**Jaylen Brown looked Hobbled:**Jaylen Brown looked to be struggling to play through his right knee injury that has him on a minutes restriction. Brown played 30 minutes but only had 14 points on the night. After the game, Mazzula was asked about Brown’s injury to which he responded, “You trust him, you trust the sports science team, you trust the trainers. You trust him taking care of the body, and he’s doing everything can to be available — and he takes pride in that.”
Asked Joe Mazzulla about the process of Jaylen Brown playing through his knee injury:
“You trust him, you trust the sports science team, you trust the trainers. You trust him taking care of the body, and he's doing everything can to be available — and he takes pride in that.” pic.twitter.com/DSfYot5Ur0
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) March 30, 2025
Up Next
Celtics head to Memphis to finish up a 6 game road trip Sunday night at 730pm.