Jayson Tatum on Sunday night scored 25 points and Jaylen Brown added 24, as the Boston Celtics extended their winning streak to six games with a 134-101 win over the San Antonio Spurs.
Derrick White scored 17 points against his former team, and Kristaps Porzingis added 14 points and nine rebounds in his return after missing one game due to a calf injury.
“We got stops,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I thought we were really good at doing both, protecting the paint and getting out to contest, which allowed us to get out in transition. I think our secondary transition, we did a good job of recognizing where the mismatch was and getting to it fast and playing together as a team through it.”
Photo: AFP
Devin Vassell scored 22 points and Victor Wembanyama had 21 points and seven rebounds for San Antonio. The Spurs have lost seven of eight.
“They are a championship-caliber team, that’s what they are out there for, that’s their goal, and they proved it once again,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. “Joe does a great job with them. They’ve got good talent, obviously, all-star talent, and they’ve got the grit. They’ve got the execution and getting better all the time. That’s a tough challenge at this particular time for our group.”
Boston closed out last month with a 12-2 record.
Wembanyama provided some of the few highlights for Spurs fans. The 2.2m rookie followed up a reverse slam off an alley-oop pass from Tre Jones with a three-pointer that cut Boston’s lead to 38-29 in the second quarter.
Wembanyama also took off from the free throw-line while holding the ball over his head for a one-handed dunk against White.
“I’m not an idiot,” White said, chuckling afterward. “I was hoping he would take another dribble, and then I could try to do that [strip or steal], but he picked it up and I never saw it again. So, I was just trying to get out of the way. That was crazy.”
Elsewhere, the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Los Angeles Lakers 129-109, the Phoenix Suns topped the Orlando Magic 112-107, the Oklahoma City Thunder outplayed the Brooklyn Nets 124-108, the Sacramento Kings dominated the Memphis Grizzlies 123-92 and the Atlanta Hawks edged the Washington Wizards 130-126.
Additional reporting by staff writer.
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