Spurs Defeat Celtics, 95-87
BOSTON -- Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili set the NBA record for wins by a trio of teammates on Sunday -- and fittingly they did it against the Boston Celtics.
The San Antonio trio helped the Spurs to a 95-87 victory, the threesome's 541st regular-season win together, snapping a tie with Boston's Larry Bird-Kevin McHale-Robert Parish trio for the all-time NBA lead.
The three players didn't have a big scoring day, as free-agent signee forward LaMarcus Aldridge scored 24 points, including three straight baskets that helped quiet a late Celtics comeback, and added 14 rebounds and five assists to lead the way for the Spurs (2-1).
The win was San Antonio's eighth in a row over Boston.
Boston (1-2) kept rallying late after trailing by as many as 15. The Celtics cut the deficit all the way down to four on three occasions late but could get no closer than four in the closing minutes.
The Celtics led once in the game -- at 2-0.
Duncan, the forward/center of the trio, scored seven points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out five assists while guards Ginobili and Parker scored 13 and six points, respectively, and Ginobili added eight assists off the bench.
Forward Kawhi Leonard nailed a big 3-pointer from the left corner and, after guard Marcus Smart answered with a trey for the Celtics, scored again. Parker then converted on a fast break to make it 90-83 with 2:02 left.
Leonard, who had 19 points and five rebounds, iced the game with two free throws with 28.6 seconds left.
The Celtics went 4 of 9 on 3-pointers in the final quarter but had been 2 of 20 in the first 36 minutes.
Guards Avery Bradley and Smart led the Celtics with 18 and 17 points, respectively, while sixth man guard Isaiah Thomas scored 15 points but was just 4 of 18 from the floor.
The Celtics went just 1 of 12 from 3-point range in scoring just 31 first-half points. Sparkplug Thomas, who normally ignites his team coming off the bench, was 1 of 9 from the floor and had just three points -- as the Spurs' bench dominated its Boston counterpart, to the tune of 23-5.
Up by 13 at the break, the Spurs saw the lead cut to 10 after three quarters.
NOTES: San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said before the game he has one picture in his office: of Celtics great John Havlicek. "There's a chair, there's a table, and there's a lamp. There's one picture on the wall. It's been there for the last 18, 20 years," he said before the game. "It's of John Havlicek. So I do think about the legacy here." Asked why Havlicek was the anointed Celtic, Popovich said, "If you can't figure it out yourself, I can't help you." ... Celtics coach Brad Stevens, asked if he watched Tim Duncan play growing up, said, "Tim Duncan is my age." ... Popovich on what he did in the recruiting of free agent F LaMarcus Aldrige: "I spoke. I begged. I got on my knees. I offered my children." ... The Spurs are in New York to play the Knicks on Monday night, while the Celtics visit Indiana on Wednesday night.
