Boston Celtics @ San Antonio Spurs
Sunday, December 31, 2023 at 7:00 PM ET
Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, TX | Game ID: 22300448
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
SAS 22 31 23 25 101BOS 30 35 40 29 134
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Celtics extend winning streak to 6 games with a 134-101 rout of the Spurs
SAN ANTONIO -- — Jayson Tatum scored 25 points, Jaylen Brown added 24 and the Boston Celtics extended their winning streak to six games with a 134-101 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night.
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.”
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 the month of December with a 12-2 record.
The matchup between the top team in the Eastern Conference and the last-place team in the West played out as expected.
“I can feel that compared to the past years, they have something extra this year,” Wembanyama said. “And, of course, it’s difficult to play against them and it is a good challenge. But I think we learned today.”
Boston led by as many as 37 points and sat its starters for most of the fourth quarter.
San Antonio never led while trailing by 35 points or more in a game for the sixth time this season.
Zach Collins sat out with a sprained ankle and lower back spasms kept Keldon Johnson out of the game. The Spurs’ offense struggled without the duo.
Wembanyama and Vassell scored San Antonio’s first 17 points. The pair combined to shoot 5 for 20 from the field in the opening quarter. The rest of the Spurs went 2 for 14. San Antonio finished 12 for 44 from 3-point range.
Wembanyama provided some of the few highlights for Spurs fans. The 7-foot-3 rookie followed up a reverse slam off an alley-oop pass from Tre Jones with a 3-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 afterwards. “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.”
Boston limited San Antonio to one offensive rebound in the first half, and held a 23-14 advantage in total rebounds.
The Celtics had six players score in double figures.
Spurs second-year player Malaki Branham (11 points) was the only player, aside from Wembanyama and Vassell, to score in double figures.
SAS KarmaHide StintsShow StintsHide PMShow PMHide KarmaShow KarmaHide ScoresShow Scores
Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
SASBW B. Wesley
CO C. Osman
DB D. Barlow
DG D. Graham
DM D. McDermott
DV D. Vassell
JC J. Champagnie
JS J. Sochan
MB M. Branham
SC S. Cissoko
SM S. Mamukelashvili
TJ T. Jones
VW V. Wembanyama
BOSAH A. Horford
DB D. Banton
DW D. White
JB J. Brown
JT J. Tatum
KP K. Porziņģis
LK L. Kornet
LS L. Stevens
NQ N. Queta
OB O. Brissett
PP P. Pritchard
PO Porzingis
SH S. Hauser
SM S. Mykhailiuk
SAS/BOS the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur