The Spurs could not beat the defending champs at home.
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs lost to the Boston Celtics 121-111 at home. Keldon Johnson scored 23 points to lead the Spurs, and Boston outscored San Antonio 23-6 in second-chance points. San Antonio was down by 17 points, while the Celtics connected on 17 three-pointers.
Devin Vassell scored 14 points, and Chris Paul had 12 points and three assists. Stephon Castle finished with 22 and eight assists, and Harrison Barnes recorded 13. Jeremy Sochan added 18 and eight rebounds.
The Spurs are 31-42 this season and will host the Warriors on Sunday night at home for their second game of a three-game homestand.
Here’s a sample of what the Spurs and Celtics said after the game.
Mitch Johnson:
“I thought we did a lot of the hard things tonight. There’s a few times, I think some of the things that we can control, we let our guard down on, which again, you’re not going to be perfect with that stuff when you’re playing that good and doing the hard stuff. That can be frustrating. Just not talking through a situation, getting bogged down with the refs. You’re not already into the next play.”
“At that point of the game, I feel like we were inching back into it, but getting them (Boston) off the glass was a big part of the game. So I felt like it was just a good coaching adjustment by them to put them (Luke Kornet and Kristaps Porzingis) both in.”
Luke Kornet: