Final: Spurs 96, Celtics 88 - Celtics erase 24 point deficit then collapse down the stretch

Game 20: Boston Celtics (10-9, 10th East) vs. San Antonio Spurs (4-13, 13th West)
AT&T Center
8:30 PM - NBC Sports Boston 

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

Boston: Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Grant Williams, Al Horford

San Antonio: Derrick White, Dejounte Murray, Keita Bates-Diop, Keldon Johnson, Jakob Poeltl

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

- Jaylen Brown’s hamstring continues to improve.

“He's feeling good,” Ime Udoka said after the team’s morning shootaround. “I think he had less soreness and stiffness after this last game than his first game back. And so, although it's a day to day thing that you're monitoring, you still have to be cautious that there's a risk there. So keep him in shorter stints and lower minutes overall but increase those game by game based on how he feels after the previous one”

- Robert Williams and Josh Richardson are both out due to a non-COVID illness.

“They are not on the trip with us,” Udoka said. “Josh, the plan is for him to come meet us here tomorrow. And he’ll be traveling with us. Rob is a little bit behind him as far as I think he got the flu a few days later. So he’s a little bit farther behind. We’ll monitor him day by day, but they’re both still in isolation with Josh coming to meet us and we’ll find out more about Rob as the days go on. The hope is to have him there, but like I said, he’s two or three days behind where Josh is at as far as the progress and symptoms.”

- Doug McDermott and Devin Vassell are both out for San Antonio

- The Celtics are favored by 4

GOING A LITTLE DEEPER

Ime Udoka returns to where his coaching career began. 

The Celtics can feel good that their new head coach isn’t going to ditch them for a career at Hallmark. 

“I think someone pointed out to me a revenge tour with Brooklyn, Philly, and San Antonio coming up but I don’t look at it like that,” Udoka said. “I think at some point I’ll look down at a Pop and think something being on the opposing sideline, but not much more than that until that point. I try to keep it game-by-game and that’s the honest truth of the way I feel about it. I’m not big on nostalgic moments and sentimental things and all that, so it’s another game we need to win and improve on. That’s the way I look at it.”

For Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, Udoka’s return as a head coach isn’t surprising. Popovich saw the qualities he wanted in a coach in Udoka when he was a player. 

“He would have a suggestion here or there, or he would do something on the court that made us think as coaches we’d adjust something,” Popovich said. “So when his playing days were over, he was someone that we wanted to have around. And here we are.”

But that spark was something Popovich recognized from the beginning. Udoka joined the Spurs and proved that he knew what it took to be a contributor.  

“He wasn’t all that talented. He was just committed, and a competitor, and strong,” Popovich said. “Over time he learned how to shoot it a little bit, which really helped him, but it was just that competitive spirit. He’s one of those guys who takes no prisoners, suffers no fools, talks when he has something to say. He’s not going to talk for the sake of talking.”

Udoka says he and Popovich share similar basketball philosophies of being unselfish, playing defense, and setting the tone to start games. But the biggest lesson he takes with him as a coach isn’t some trick play or defensive strategy.

“He always stressed a relationship piece of it. And you saw that with his relationship with Tony (Parker), Tim (Duncan), and Manu (Ginobili) and I understand that piece and what it does for your team,” Udoka said. “It wasn't about X's and O's and planning schemes, practices, anybody can kind of do that, it's how you connect with you guys.”

Popovich does not believe that will be a problem for Udoka.

“He’s a serious guy but he’s a great guy,” Popovich said. “As true as the day is long, you just trust everything about him. So those were the qualities that I first saw and that goes a long way.”

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1. The early response: The Celtics should have a bad taste in their mouths after getting blown out by the Nets. There should be some motivation there to take it out on their next opponent. Teams don’t like getting embarrassed, especially on national TV. They should walk into the AT&T center pissed off. 

2. The turnover battle: The Spurs are struggling but they generally protect the ball. They give up the third-fewest points off turnovers in the league, so if the Celtics can get a few early turnovers, then they can get some easy baskets and fluster the Spurs. Meanwhile, the Spurs are 7th in the league in steals. So winning the turnover battle will be big. 

3. I’ll say it again... ATTACK!!: The Spurs aren’t big, and they give up the third-most points in the paint. And since they’re not giving up a bunch of those on fast breaks, it’s on the Celtics to not settle for jumpers. There are points in the paint to be had, so go get them.

GAME THREAD

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