Top 5 Plays from the Spurs-Celtics Game

From a thunderous dunk to several hustle plays, including one to deny an alley-oop attempt, and a clutch jumper with just over 10 seconds left on the clock, here are the top five plays from the San Antonio Spurs win over the Boston Celtics.

From a thunderous dunk to several hustle plays, including one to deny an alley-oop attempt, and a clutch jumper with just over 10 seconds left on the clock, here are the top five plays from the San Antonio Spurs win over the Boston Celtics.

Keldon Johnson Posterizes a Pair of Celtics

Derrick White takes advantage of a mismatch with Al Horford. The fifth-year guard gets into the paint, which pulls Grant Williams over, and with him rotating to help protect the rim, Keldon Johnson patiently comes behind White, catches the pitch, and takes a two-footed leap to throw it down on two Celtics.

Tatum Breaks Up the Alley-Oop

After a Marcus Smart turnover, Johnson and Dejounte Murray have a 2-1 and are poised to add to the Spurs' 23-point lead -- the score in the video is wrong; San Antonio had 40 at that time, not 42. Instead, Tatum does a good job defending both of them, Johnson's lob is low, and a well-positioned Tatum swats it, leading to a Jaylen Brown bucket at the other end. Tatum's hustle play sparked a 13-0 run for the Celtics that cut their deficit to nine points.

Grant Williams Denies Jakob Poeltl at the Rim

Despite the loss, the Celtics' played well defensively, holding the Spurs to 96 points; effort plays such as this were at the root of that. Grant Williams recognizes he has no choice but to leave Bryn Forbes because otherwise, Jakob Poeltl would have an easy bucket at the rim. Emboldened by a seven-inch height advantage, Poeltl challenges Williams at the basket, and the latter stonewalls him, leading to a Tatum finger roll at the other end.

Marcus Smart Goes to the Floor

Vintage Marcus Smart. He dives on the floor to take a loose ball away from an opposing player, in this case, Bryn Forbes, and he gets it ahead to a teammate, Grant Williams, who charges to the basket for a layup in traffic. That field goal gave the Celtics their second lead of the night, a two-point advantage with 7:32 left in the game.

Dejounte Murray Delivers the Dagger

It's a tough shot, but it's one Dejounte Murray loves taking. He gets to a favorite spot of his, a step below the foul line, and faces up against a smaller defender, Dennis Schroder, and he proceeds to drain a jumper that puts the Spurs up by five with 12.7 seconds on the clock, sealing the win for them.