Spurs again give Celtics boot

The streak lives.

San Antonio has now defeated Boston 16 straight times. Tim Duncan still has never lost to the Celtics. Honestly, did you really think last night at the TD Banknorth Garden was the night? The Spurs are simply too good, too finely tuned, too consistent. The Celtics are simply too young, too new to each other, too inconsistent. The defending NBA champions can survive a horrendous quarter, regroup at halftime, and cruise to a blowout victory with efficiency and ease. They did exactly that before a capacity crowd. After allowing Boston to tie the game in the second quarter, San Antonio dominated the second half and left town with a 103-82 win.

The Celtics (2-3) did not merely stumble in the third, they fell flat, going 5 for 20 from the floor after shooting better than 70 percent in the second quarter. Meanwhile, the Spurs (5-1) did what championship teams do, raising their game to a level at which the Celtics could not compete. The San Antonio starters opened the third quarter with a 26-7 run and never looked back. Bruce Bowen and Manu Ginobili started the spurt with back-to-back 3-pointers. Tony Parker fed Melvin Sanders for a layup to cap the run and give the Spurs a 22-point edge with 4:17 left in the quarter. The visitors entered the fourth ahead, 81-59.

It looked as if there was nothing Boston could do to stop the creative Ginobili (11 points, five assists), the quick Parker (23 points, six assists), the crafty Bowen (12 points), and the dominant Duncan (29 points, 12 rebounds) as San Antonio shot 71 percent from the field in the third. Paul Pierce (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Ricky Davis (10 points) were the only Boston starters to reach double figures as one solid offensive quarter could not compensate for three poor ones.

As the game concluded and San Antonio stretched its margin late in the fourth quarter, the Celtics' starters stared glumly at the action. That was a first this year. Every other Celtic game had come down to the closing seconds.

''It's rare when our teams haven't been competitive, and I thought we were not at times," said coach Doc Rivers. ''This was the first game where our offense dictated how we were going to play defense. In the beginning of the game, we came out and didn't execute. We didn't move the ball. It was the first time that we decided not to trust each other. To start the game, everybody wanted to win it on their own."

Rivers thought the Celtics gave up after falling behind early in the third, which was something they didn't do in the first half. After falling behind by 16 points in the first quarter with selfish play and hearing boos from the crowd, the Celtics rallied and entered halftime behind just 47-44.

The Celtics shot an unfathomable 74 percent in the second quarter, sharing the ball and finding the open man. For one period, Boston made the game look as easy as San Antonio makes it look almost every time it plays. During one stretch, the Celtics scored on six straight possessions, recording nine assists on 14 field goals. With that kind of chemistry, Boston staged a 23-10 run and tied the game, 39-39, on a driving dunk by Pierce. But this was no ordinary baseline drive. Pierce easily blew past Bowen around the 3-point arc, then sent a message with the force of his slam.

''I don't feel that we did anything different in the third quarter [than in the second]," said Duncan. ''They just had a great quarter. Paul and Ricky really turned it up, hit some tough shots. We stuck with what we were doing, and we were contesting shots and it wore them down."

The comeback was impressive because Pierce did not enter the game until the spurt was nearly over. It also should be noted that Parker, Bowen, and Duncan remained on the bench for more than half of the Celtics' surge. In the absence of Pierce and three of the Spurs starters, the Celtics fed the ball to Ryan Gomes for a layup to start the spurt. Then, Dan Dickau nailed a 3-pointer. Next it was Davis's turn, and Al Jefferson contributed as well.

But soon after the Pierce dunk, the Celtics' offensive productivity slowed. Boston never took the lead, though the home team stayed close until the end of the first half. A 3-pointer by Raef LaFrentz brought Boston within 1 point (45-44) with 32 seconds remaining. The Green would come no closer the remainder of the game.

''With us not playing defense and allowing them to build the lead really forced us to rush our shots on offense," said Pierce. ''We were thinking we were going to get it back all on one play instead of settling down, executing, and running our offense. That's the difference between us and the championship-caliber teams. That's something we got to learn from the San Antonio Spurs."

It's one of many things the Celtics have got to learn before they can become consistently competitive.