High five for Celtics
Boston snap losing streak against injury-hit San Antonio
LOS ANGELES: Al Horford delivered 14 points and 13 rebounds as the Boston Celtics won their fifth straight and snapped an 11-game losing skid to the San Antonio Spurs with a 108-94 win.
Kyrie Irving played his best game for the Celtics who beat the injury-depleted Spurs for the first time in Boston since January 2011.
The Celtics have rallied from an 0-2 season start that saw them lose new signee Gordon Hayward to an injury in the opening game at Cleveland.
“We’re just really buying into what the coach wants us to do and our young guys, they’re all ears,” said Horford.
“They’re all listening, trying to be better.”
Irving led his new team by scoring 24 points, while Jaylen Brown scored 18 for the Celtics who improved to 5-2 on the 2017-18 NBA season.
The Spurs are still without injured Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker. Manu Ginobili also skipped the game to get some needed rest.
In New York, Kristaps Porzingis scored a career-high 38 points as the New York Knicks held on for a 116-110 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
Porzingis, of Latvia, produced his fifth 30-point game of the season and eighth of his career. He made 14 of 26 shots, including four three-pointers, and surpassed his previous career best set Nov 16 against the Detroit Pistons.
Serbia’s Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 28 points. Jamal Murray added 20 for Denver, which used a 22-2 run in the third and outscored the Knicks 38-19 in the period.
After withstanding the difficult third, the Knicks took an 84-81 lead into the fourth and expanded it to 100-93 on a three-pointer by Hardaway with about seven minutes left before Porzingis finished it off.
Elsewhere, Rudy Gobert had 17 points, 12 rebounds, six blocks and a career-high six assists to lead the Utah Jazz to a 104-89 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
The Jazz improved to 4-0 at home this season.