Final: Spurs 100, Celtics 95 - Wembanyama starts slow, but closes C's out

BOSTON CELTICS (24-13) vs. SAN ANTONIO SPURS (26-11)

Regular season game 38

TD Garden 8:00 p.m. - NBCS Boston

SCHEDULE ADVANTAGE: San Antonio. The Spurs have had two days off while the Celtics are on a back-to-back, and their third game in four nights.

INJURIES

Boston: Josh Minott (OUT-ankle), Jayson Tatum (OUT-Achilles) 

San Antonio: Devin Vassell (OUT-Adductor), Julian Champagnie (QUESTIONABLE-back)

OFFICIALS

Curtis Blair (#74)    Nick Buchert (#3)    Jason Goldenberg (#35)

THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR

1. A lot of jumpers: Victor Wembanyama is obviously an alien, and scoring on him at the rim is impossible. Scoring within 10 feet of him feels impossible. So I’m expecting a LOT more jump shots than usual, even from a jump shooting team like Boston. My guess is that we’ll see the flip side of yesterday’s game where they only shot 28 3-pointers. I wouldn’t be surprised to see 50 go up tonight. 

2. Defending Wemby: I’m very curious to see how the Celtics attack Wembanyama. I’m guessing straight up with Neemias Queta with doubles on the dribble to try to force some turnovers. We might see Amari Williams tonight just to get more size and athleticism on Wembanyama. 

3. Overcoming the mental hurdle: The third game in four nights is tough, especially against a good team like San Antonio coming in well-rested. They were in town yesterday, so they got their normal amount of sleep. The later start is actually helpful to them, too, because it’s a little closer to their normal start time, so their body clocks aren’t totally out of whack. 

All rational sign point to a Boston loss, so can they overcome that and find a way to surprise the Spurs?

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.