Boston Celtics carry NBA road dominance to resilient San Antonio Spurs
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Boston Celtics centre Al Horford dunks against the Phoenix Suns during the second half at Footprint Centre.
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
SAN ANTONIO – The surging Boston Celtics will aim to keep alive their fleeting chances for the best record in the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Eastern Conference, when they square off against the San Antonio Spurs on March 29 (March 30, Singapore time).
The Celtics (54-19) travel to San Antonio on a seven-game winning streak, the most recent a 132-102 victory at the Phoenix Suns on March 26.
Boston have captured 12 of their past 13 fixtures and won the first four games of a six-game road trip that concludes in Memphis against the Grizzlies on March 31. The defending NBA champions have won 14 of their past 15 away contests and have a league-best 30-7 record on the road.
However, they are 4.5 games behind Cleveland for the best record in the East with nine games to play.
Star man Jaylen Brown continues to fight through a knee injury that kept him out of three games last week. He said: “It’s new for me. I haven’t really had issues with my knees ever in my career. I’m just trying to find a good routine to make sure I’m prepared and ready to go every night, but it’s definitely been a challenge mentally.”
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla praised Brown for his overall toughness, saying: “(Jalen is) just a guy that whatever he has to do to put himself in the best chance to be at his best for us and to help us win, he does. For a couple games, it was taking care of his knee and now it’s doing what he needs to do.”
The Spurs (31-41) head back to Alamo after a 124-116 loss in Cleveland on March 27.
They surged to a two-point lead on Stephon Castle’s three-pointer with 6min 25sec left but could not sustain the momentum, losing their second straight game. Nevertheless, San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson preferred to focus on the positives ahead of the Boston clash.
“There was some really, really good moments of game-plan execution. We did a really good job showing some fight and some resilience,” he said.
San Antonio fell to four games off the pace of the 10th-placed Dallas Mavericks for the final spot in the West play-in tournament. The Spurs would have to climb over Dallas, Phoenix and the Portland Trail Blazers in their final 10 games to earn a post-season berth.
The Cavaliers, meanwhile, suffered a defeat following their win over San Antonio. On March 28, Tim Hardaway Jr scored 32 points to lead Detroit to a 133-122 home victory. He connected on seven of 11 three-pointers on the way to his season-high, leading seven Pistons players to score in double figures.
Elsewhere, Golden State superstar Stephen Curry scored 23 points in his return from a two-game absence with a pelvic bruise, lifting the Warriors to a 111-95 victory over the Pelicans in New Orleans.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he thought Curry “looked great” and his team looked better as the game went on.
“I didn’t love the passing in the first half, but we took care of the ball better in the second half,” he said. “All in all positive outcome on a night where we’re clearly trying to get our rhythm back as a group.” REUTERS, AFP
