BOSTON (AP) — Kawhi Leonard had 25 points and 10 rebounds and Patty Mills scored 19 to lead the San Antonio Spurs past Boston 109-103 Friday for their eighth straight victory. Mills sank a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left after the Celtics made it a one-possession game.
David Lee had 15 points and 12 rebounds and rookie Davis Bertans scored a career-high 15 for San Antonio. The Spurs improved to 9-0 on the road this season and beat Boston for the 10th straight time.
Isaiah Thomas finished with 24 points with eight assists and Avery Bradley had 19 points and eight rebounds for Boston, which had won three in a row. Al Horford had 12 points and 10 rebounds in his second home game since signing a four-year, $113-million contract with Boston this summer.
San Antonio fell behind by 14 in the first quarter but used a 12-0 run in the second to get back in the game. Jae Crowder scored 10 of his 18 points in the first quarter as Boston, which used an 18-2 run to turn a two-point deficit into a 24-10 lead. But the Spurs were just as impressive in the second, when they scored 12 straight points — seven by Leonard — to make it a one-point game.
The Celtics led 74-69 with 25 seconds left in the third quarter before Bertans hit a 3-pointer and Mills made a 34-foot 3-pointer just before the buzzer to give the Spurs the lead.
TIP-INS
Spurs: Improved to 5-0 vs. Eastern Conference teams. … Bertans, who set his career-high with 11 against Charlotte on Wednesday, broke it in the first three quarters against Boston. … Tyler Zeller and Danny Green were teammates on the North Carolina team that won the 2009 NCAA title.
Celtics: Horford, the Celtics’ biggest free agent acquisition of the summer, played just his second home game this season — his first since the opener. He missed nine games with a concussion and returned for the last three games — all on the road. … Crowder scored his 2,500th career point.
UP NEXT
Spurs: Visit the Wizards on Saturday to end a three-game road trip.
Celtics: Visit the Heat on Monday night. Boston swept the 2015-16 series 3-0 against Miami. The Heat are 4-10 and could be headed for a second year without a playoff appearance in three seasons since LeBron James returned to Cleveland.
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