Game Thread: San Antonio Spurs at Celtics

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Six. The Spurs are 5 games ahead of the New Orleans by 5 games in the loss column, with 11 games to play, so since they have the head to head tiebreaker, they just need any combination of Spurs wins or Pelicans losses that add up to six to likely lock up a play-in spot. There’s still a mathematical possibility for the Kings to sneak into the picture, but that possibility is minute, and should vanish soon, probably before the Spurs face them next Friday.

Tonight, the Spurs face the Celtics, tied with the Miami Heat for the all-important 6th place spot in the Eastern Conference. Brad Stevens doesn’t want hit team to be a part of the play-in, so you can bet that the Celtics are motivated to play hard tonight. The Celtics were expected to be better than than the 6th seed this year, and there are signs that they’re playing better lately, with a 10-5 record in April so far. The Spurs will have to play a solid game tonight to keep the Celtics from getting their 11th, with Derrick White out for the rest of the season. DeMar DeRozan and Dejounte Murray have been playing their best ball of the season lately, while Jakob Poeltl has been great when he’s not taken off the floor with foul trouble. Tonight, the Spurs are going to have to avoid foul trouble on their bigs, while avoiding the scoring droughts which have given aggressive teams the ability to take over games late. This is the kind of pressure that should help the young guys develop into better players, so it’s going to be fun to watch.

The past hangs heavy on the parquet, just like a book by Hemingway, but long gone are the days of Bird and McHale, and the Spurs should win tonight, because Rudy can’t fail.

One final word:

Go Spurs GOOOOOO!!

San Antonio Spurs at Boston Celtics
April 30, 2021 | 6:30 PM CT
Streaming: NBA League Pass
TV: NBATV/BSSW
RADIO: WOAI

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