ducks
02-08-2009, 04:54 PM
BOSTON (AP)—Roger Mason pulled up and leaned into a 3-pointer with 20.4 seconds left, and Tim Duncan scored 23 points with 13 rebounds Sunday to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 105-99 victory over the Boston Celtics.
It was the second loss in three games for the defending champions, who lost to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday in an NBA finals rematch to snap a 12-game win streak.
Kevin Garnett scored 26 points with 12 rebounds, Paul Pierce had 19 and eight and Rajon Rondo had 16 assists for the Celtics.
Matt Bonner scored a season-high 23 points and Manu Ginobili had 19 as a reserve for the Spurs, who won for the ninth time in 11 games. They lost to Denver on Tuesday, when Duncan, Michael Finley and Tony Parker all sat out; for Finley, it snapped a streak of 284 consecutive games.
Duncan converted a three-point play to give the Spurs a 90-87 lead before Ray Allen’s basket cut it to one point and Garnett hit a pair of jumpers to give Boston a 93-90 lead with 1:36 to play. But Bonner hit a jumper from the foul line and Garnett missed, then Mason hit his 3 to make it 95-93.
The Celtics were inbounding the ball when Ginobili stole the pass and drew a clear-path foul, giving him two shots and the Spurs the ball. San Antonio extended its lead to 101-93 before Eddie House and Kevin Garnett hit 3-pointers to help cut the deficit to three points.
The Spurs scored the last five points of the first half to open a 60-52 lead, but the Celtics opened the second with 12 straight points to retake the lead.
Notes
Boston is 24-4 at home, with all four losses coming against the Western Conference. … The Celtics are in a stretch where they play three of the top four teams in the Western Conference in four games, starting with the conference-leading Lakers on Thursday and, after the Knicks on Friday, No. 2 San Antonio and No. 4 New Orleans on Wednesday.
It was the second loss in three games for the defending champions, who lost to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday in an NBA finals rematch to snap a 12-game win streak.
Kevin Garnett scored 26 points with 12 rebounds, Paul Pierce had 19 and eight and Rajon Rondo had 16 assists for the Celtics.
Matt Bonner scored a season-high 23 points and Manu Ginobili had 19 as a reserve for the Spurs, who won for the ninth time in 11 games. They lost to Denver on Tuesday, when Duncan, Michael Finley and Tony Parker all sat out; for Finley, it snapped a streak of 284 consecutive games.
Duncan converted a three-point play to give the Spurs a 90-87 lead before Ray Allen’s basket cut it to one point and Garnett hit a pair of jumpers to give Boston a 93-90 lead with 1:36 to play. But Bonner hit a jumper from the foul line and Garnett missed, then Mason hit his 3 to make it 95-93.
The Celtics were inbounding the ball when Ginobili stole the pass and drew a clear-path foul, giving him two shots and the Spurs the ball. San Antonio extended its lead to 101-93 before Eddie House and Kevin Garnett hit 3-pointers to help cut the deficit to three points.
The Spurs scored the last five points of the first half to open a 60-52 lead, but the Celtics opened the second with 12 straight points to retake the lead.
Notes
Boston is 24-4 at home, with all four losses coming against the Western Conference. … The Celtics are in a stretch where they play three of the top four teams in the Western Conference in four games, starting with the conference-leading Lakers on Thursday and, after the Knicks on Friday, No. 2 San Antonio and No. 4 New Orleans on Wednesday.