Spurs at Celtics
A rash of injuries have the San Antonio Spurs looking like a shell of themselves lately, but they'll try for their fifth straight win over Boston when they visit the Celtics on Wednesday. The Spurs played a listless first half in a 109-100 loss at reeling Detroit on Monday and have lost two of their last three and six of 11. They've dominated the Celtics recently but may be catching Boston at the wrong time — the Celtics have won four of their last five.
The aging Spurs have been short-handed and expect to be without Kawhi Leonard (broken finger), center Tiago Splitter (bruised shin) and point guard Tony Parker (rest), so they're looking forward to the upcoming All-Star break. "We're playing with a lot of different guys right now; we're missing a lot of our key guys," forward Tim Duncan told reporters. "(We will) try to finish this road trip strong and get a win in Boston and see if we can get healthy over the break." The Celtics might be disappointed to see the layoff come, as they're in the midst of one of their best stretches of basketball since a four-game winning streak early in the season.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (San Antonio), CSN New England (Boston)
ABOUT THE SPURS (37-15): San Antonio has a league-best 19-7 road record and has won three of its first five on its current nine-game trip, though the losses — at Brooklyn and Detroit — weren't pretty. The Spurs gave up 59 points in the first half against the Pistons in what coach Gregg Popovich "probably the worst defense we've played all season." The thinned bench has resulted in the Spurs asking Duncan to play more minutes, and the veteran has responded with eight double-doubles in his last 11 games.
ABOUT THE CELTICS (19-34): After a dreadful stretch in which they lost 19 of 22, the Celtics have rebounded to get back within 4 1/2 games of eighth-place Charlotte in the weak Eastern Conference. The success has come with point guard Rajon Rondo popping in and out of the lineup while returning from last year's season-ending knee surgery, but he should be available after sitting out Monday's 102-86 win at Milwaukee. Leading scorer Jeff Green has stepped up his production, averaging 25 points over the past four games, and Jared Sullinger has recorded a career-best six consecutive double-doubles.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. San Antonio is 28-1 when leading after three quarters while Boston is 3-27 when trailing entering the final stanza.
2. The Celtics are 1-14 when they fail to reach 90 points.
3. The Spurs are 23-0 when they collect as many or more rebounds than their opponent and 14-15 when they are outrebounded.