Celtics beat Spurs, lose Gordon Hayward to injury

SAN ANTONIO — The Celtics may have extended their league-best winning streak to seven games Saturday, but it was with a sense of at least short-term loss.

Gordon Hayward broke his left hand early in the second quarter after running into a LaMarcus Aldridge pick. Hayward left the floor shaking the hand, with an X-ray verifying the Celtic forward’s worst fears.

But the Celtics moved on seamlessly for a 135-115 win over the Spurs. It was their first win in San Antonio since March 31, 2011. Prior to this game, Brad Stevens and Marcus Smart had never won a game here.

Jaylen Brown, aggressive from the start, finished with 30 points and seven rebounds on 10-for-18 shooting. Marcus Smart had a 19-point, seven-board performance, (4-for-9 downtown), and the Celts got 26 points, seven assists and six rebounds from Kemba Walker.

This may have also been the coming out game for Robert Williams. The second-year center exploded with 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting – three of them dunks off alley-oop feeds – six rebounds and six blocks.

After leading by as many as 20 points, the Celtics opened the fourth with their margin significantly cut to 13 points (104-91).

Williams converted his third alley-oop dunk, this time off a Javonte Green pass for a 109-93 lead with 10:59 left.

Patty Mills responded with three free throws, courtesy of a Smart foul, and the Celtics hit back with an 8-0 run by a unit including Brad Wanamaker, Williams and Green for a 117-96 lead with nine minutes left.

Walker answered a 4-0 Spurs flurry with a 3-pointer, and with five minutes later scored again to pull the Celtics back into a 20-point (124-104) lead.

Brown had 20 points by halftime, and though he was the main force behind the Celtics’ 72-54 lead, their across-the-board numbers were overpowering, including 9-for-22 (40.9 percent) 3-point shooting. Smart, with 12 points in his sixth man role, was 4-for-9 – every shot from downtown. Six different Celtics hit 3-pointers.

And their best work may have come in the defensive end, with Aldridge, guarded by Theis, finishing the half with a point after taking only three shots.

But for all of the dominance indicated by those numbers, the locker room was dampened by the news that Hayward, who left early in the second quarter, had fractured his left hand.

Smart replaced him in the starting lineup, and though the Spurs finally caught fire behind DeMar DeRozan and Patty Mills, the Celtics continued on their run, including back-to-back alley-oop dunks from Rob Williams.

But Walker hit two 3-pointers in the last 3:50 of the quarter, and though Aldridge capped off the third with his first basket, the Celtics led, 104-91.

As evidenced by Popovich’s decision to do a mass substitution for his starters with the Celtics leading, 19-10, the Celtics were putting up some early numbers that were headache material for the Spurs coach.

The Celtics finished the quarter with a 39-30 lead, 60 percent (6-for-10) 3-point shooting, and 12 points from Brown.

Smart opened the second quarter with his third 3-pointer – all five of his shots to that point were from downtown – and after some sloppy play on both sides, Theis gave the Celtics some extra cushion with a corner three followed by a cut for a three-point play off a Walker feed. The Celtics led, 49-34, with 7:44 left in the half.

Rob Williams’ shot blocking was on display, with a chase-down swat of Jakob Poeltl, followed by a block of Derrick White on the next possession.

Smart punctuated that defensive flurry with his fourth 3-pointer, and though three different Spurs hit from downtown over the next 1:30, the Celtics closed out the quarter with an 8-3 run for a 72-54 halftime lead.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2CuPZ7I