The San Antonio Spurs have a relatively new-looking lineup to past years.
Still, their dominance over the Celtics hasn’t changed a bit, as a strong second half by the Spurs propelled them to a 120-111 win over the Celtics whose three-game road trip ends with them losing two of the three games.
San Antonio did not take control of the game until the third quarter.
With the scored tied at 67-all, the Spurs went on a 17-2 run that would prove to be too much for the Celtics to overcome.
Boston had moments when the San Antonio lead dipped to single digits, but the Spurs’ control of the game was never really in doubt in the fourth quarter.
Here are the Stars, Studs and Duds from Monday night, the Celtics' 10th loss in their last 11 meetings with the Spurs.
STARS
Jaylen Brown: He came out with a clear and undeniable mission - to score at will. Brown delivered an offensive haymaker in the first half when he scored 18 of his season-high 30 points.
Boston Celtics
LaMarcus Aldridge: After a slow start, Aldridge heated up in the second quarter as his strong play carried over into the second half. He would lead the Spurs with a game-high 32 points to go with nine rebounds and five assists.
STUDS
Jayson Tatum: Rebounding was a big concern for the Celtics coming into the Spurs game, but Tatum did his part to make sure it didn’t become a major issue. The 6-foot-8 Tatum had a near double-double in the first half alone before finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
DeMar DeRozan: Defending DeRozan is always tough for Boston when he was in Toronto. Usually, he does it with scoring, but his impact on Monday with San Antonio was more diverse as DeRozan tallied a double-double of 13 points and 11 assists along with seven rebounds.
Kyrie Irving: He tallied 16 points on 7-for-14 shooting to go with eight assists, which is a good night for most players in the NBA. Not so for Irving, who did not significantly impact the game in a way that gave the Celtics a serious shot at winning. He also suffered an eye injury that will bear watching.
Marcus Morris: Another solid game for Morris who finished with 18 points. But similar to Irving, Morris’ scoring had little in terms of swinging the game’s momentum in Boston’s favor.
Derrick White: The Spurs got a much-needed lift offensively from White who tallied 22 points on 8-for-9 shooting.
DUDS
Gordon Hayward: It was a rough night on so many levels for Hayward, who went scoreless while missing all six of his field goal attempts.
Celtics defense: They absolutely crumbled when the game really mattered. The Celtics were unable to get any stops defensively when it really mattered, paving the way for San Antonio to pull away and continue its dominance over the Celtics.
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