Celtics at Spurs
THE STORY: Two of the NBA’s top teams are slumping badly but someone is guaranteed a victory when the San Antonio Spurs host the Boston Celtics on Thursday. The Spurs have boasted the league’s top record for nearly the duration of the season but are in the midst of a season-worst four-game losing skid and have been ravaged by injuries over the past week. Boston has lost three of four games and has compiled just a 5-7 record over the past three weeks. San Antonio has seen its lead over the Los Angeles Lakers for top seed in the Western Conference whittled down to 3 1/2 games. The Celtics trail the Chicago Bulls by 2 1/2 games in the bid for Eastern Conference top seed. The Miami Heat are also 2 1/2 games back.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT.
ABOUT THE SPURS (57-17): San Antonio hasn’t won since power forward Tim Duncan went down with an ankle injury. The injury crisis reached its zenith Monday when starting guards Manu Ginobili (thigh) and Tony Parker (knee) and center Antonio McDyess (back) were also sidelined. Parker and McDyess are expected to play against Boston while Ginobili is questionable and Duncan remains highly doubtful. The four-game skid is San Antonio’s longest losing streak since the 2007-08 season. The skid includes two losses to Portland, including last Friday’s contest in which San Antonio led by six points in the final minute before suffering an epic collapse. George Hill scored 27 points in Monday’s 100-92 loss to the Trail Blazers, a defeat that dropped the Spurs’ home record to 33-4.
ABOUT THE CELTICS (51-22): Boston’s troubles continued Monday with a 107-100 loss to the Indiana Pacers. The Celtics couldn’t stop Pacers center Roy Hibbert (26 points) and were outscored 26-15 in the final quarter. A positive sign was that point guard Rajon Rondo played well despite a lingering finger injury. Rondo had 22 points – his first 20-point game since early February – and eight assists one night after missing a contest against Minnesota. Paul Pierce scored a team-high 23 points but Ray Allen (11 points) and Kevin Garnett (six) combined for just 17 points. Boston finishes a four-game road trip against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.
WHO'S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Pierce is averaging 21.4 points over the last five contests. Hill is averaging 28.5 points and shooting 62.5 percent over the past two games. Garnett is averaging just 10.3 points over the last four games. San Antonio center DeJuan Blair is averaging just 5.4 points over his past seven games.
KEY STATISTIC: The 100 points Boston scored against Indiana on Monday was the first time the Celtics reached the century mark since March 9. Boston averaged just 85.9 points over the previous 10 games. San Antonio is allowing 106 per game during its four-game skid.
SEASON SERIES: Boston recorded a 105-103 home win over San Antonio on Jan. 5 with Ray Allen scoring 31 points and Rajon Rondo contributing 12 points, 10 rebounds, 23 assists and six steals. The Celtics have won six of the last eight meetings.
KEY INJURIES: BOSTON: F Troy Murphy (ankle); C Shaquille O’Neal (Achilles tendon); G Von Wafer (calf); C Jermaine O’Neal (knee). SAN ANTONIO: G Manu Ginobili (thigh); G Tony Parker (knee), F Antonio McDyess (back); F Tim Duncan (ankle).
LAST WORD: “Every team has their issues. We’re no different from what issues we have as a team and the things that we’re dealing with. Everyone wants to be playing well going into the playoffs and we’re no different from that. We’re just dealing with our issues. Either you can quit, go home, pack it up, and give up, or you can do something about it. We’ve always been that type of team to do something about it and continue to work.” – Celtics forward Kevin Garnett on the situation facing the slumping team.