Stephon Castle played well against the Celtics (Photo via X)
The San Antonio Spurs kept pace with the Boston Celtics but the defending NBA champions ended up pulling out a 121-111 victory in South Texas. The loss dropped San Antonio’s record to 31-42.
At the end of the first quarter, the Spurs trailed 36-27. From then on, the good guys made a variety of runs but the Celtics never lost their grip on the game. Boston never led by more than 17 points but, to be fair, it never felt like the Spurs were capable of climbing the mountain.
All in all, San Antonio has to be pleased with how they played. The Spurs competed against a contender and had plenty of positive moments.
Stats: Spurs vs. Celtics
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Spurs vs. Celtics – Final Grades
Devin Vassell
The good: Vassell was 4-for-6 from three-point land. His decision-making on offense was sharper than usual. Defensively, he guarded well out on the perimeter, used his length well and did work on the boards. In 38 minutes, he had no turnovers or fouls. The bad: Vassell was only 1-for-6 from two-point range. He only got to the basket once and was 1-for-5 from midrange. Vassell, to be at his best, has to get into the lane more often.
Grade: B+
Stephon Castle
Castle didn’t have the cleanest outing. He sometimes dribbled too much. He sometimes called his own number too soon. He had trouble finishing in the lane. He also only hit 1-of-7 three-pointers. But through the weeds, another strong game for Castle could be seen. He got to the free throw line for ten attempts. The rookie’s attacking of the basket was commendable. Castle also passed the ball extremely well and made plays on the move — all while not turning the ball over in 30 minutes. I also thought his defense was mostly positive.
Grade: B+
Chris Paul
Paul couldn’t have started things off much quieter. He didn’t even attempt a shot in the first half and only had three assists. After hitting his first shot in the third quarter, Paul led the Spurs with ten points in the fourth period. He got going enough in the final stanza that it gave the Spurs a palpable amount of hope. Alas, it was too little too late from the veteran PG. Throughout the game, I liked Paul’s aggressive defense and the wisdom he played with on offense.
Grade: B
Harrison Barnes
Barnes played his role well enough. His shooting efficiency was a plus, he made the right choices with the ball and moved his feet on defense. Barnes could have played with more physicality but, net-net, he did enough in his 24 minutes for the Spurs to win the game.
Grade: B
Jeremy Sochan
Getting the start at center, Sochan had a lot of pluses and minuses. He missed all four of his three-pointers — and none of the misses looked particularly close. Inside of the arc, Sochan had more success. He hit half of his eight two-point attempts and got to the line a ton, finishing 10-for-12 at the charity stripe. While he was out of control at times offensively, he made some good passes and his effort could never be questioned. Defensively, Sochan found himself in some difficult matchups but he scratched and clawed his way to a reasonable amount of success.
Grade: B-
Keldon Johnson
Johnson has been really good since the All-Star break and he gave another example of that excellency tonight against the Celtics. Playing 34 minutes off the bench, he was clearly the best player on the Spurs. He was 9-for-12 from the field, 2-for-3 from three-point territory and hit all three of his free throws. When he wasn’t driving to the rim with a mixture of anger and power, he was using his soft touch to score on the move. While Johnson only had three assists, this was actually one of his better passing games of the season. Defensively, he played a focused brand of basketball and he limited his miscues on both ends of the court.
Grade: A
Sandro Mamukelashvili
Offensively, Mamukelashvili did okay. While he seemed to be playing too fast at times, he still had six points in 17 minutes. Defensively, there were definitely some issues. He had no defensive rebounds and was slow in rotations. Mamu has had a lot of highlights lately but his defense is still a work in progress.
Grade: C
Julian Champagnie
Champagnie didn’t have it going versus Boston. He was scoreless in 16 minutes and missed all three of his three-point attempts. Defensively, he was a step slower than usual and didn’t put up much tangible production on that end of the court either.
Grade: D+
Blake Wesley
Wesley hit a three-pointer and there were moments of hustle. Unfortunately, his lack of touch was also apparent and his energy on defense rarely caused any issues for the Celtics. In fact, Boston’s quick, sharp passes basically negated Wesley’s energy on that end.
Grade: C-
Mitch Johnson
I thought the rotation and the gameplan were fine. The guys got some good run against a very good team. Castle was kept in the middle of the action and I really like Sochan in the starting lineup instead of Biyombo.
Grade: B+