Final: Celtics 116, Spurs 103 - Tatum, Porzingis combine for 61

BOSTON CELTICS (38-16) vs SAN ANTONIO SPURS (23-28)

TD Garden 7 p.m. - NBC Sports Boston, ESPN

Line: Celtics -8.5

INJURIES

Boston: Jrue Holiday (OUT, shoulder), Torrey Craig (AVAILABLE, ankle), Jaylen Brown (OUT, knee)

San Antonio: Charles Bassey (OUT, knee)

THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR

1. Strong start: After the Miami game, Jayson Tatum told Abby Chin “we give up too many easy ones at home so we got to make up for it. We need to get back on track at home. We let our fans down too many times ...  so we owe it to them to play better at home."

You can’t say that and then come out flat. You just can’t. Tatum set himself up for the worst postgame press conference ever if he half-asses it out there, so I’m expecting Boston to come out strong and take an early lead. 

2. Hitting jump shots: There is no more fearsome rim protector than Victor Wembanyama. He blocks shots flat-footed, he recovers and blocks them when he’s thoroughly beaten, he blocks them when you think he’s not even in the play. When he sits, the Celtics can start driving and attacking the rim. When he is in the game, everything will be jump shots, which the Celtics need to hit to build their leads. 

3. End quarters well: I highlighted this after the Heat game, but this is an important element to comfortable wins. The Celtics have had a tendency to cruise into the finish line at the end of quarters when they need to be pushing harder to hold onto or extend their leads. 

Follow along with my thoughts as the game goes on. They’ll show up below and in the comments section, so hop in and share your opinion as well.