Boston Celtics Team Report - March 21

(Basketball News) - The Celtics suffered a disappointing 103-87 loss at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs at the SBC Center Saturday night.

Paul Pierce was just 6-of-24 from the field but led the way with 18 for the Celtics, who have lost two in a row and four of their last six. Walter McCarty had 15 points while Mark Blount posted 12 points and 12 boards for Boston, which never led. Chucky Atkins recorded 14 points for the Celtics.

The Celtics did their best to keep the score close and even tied it at 57 early in the third. They trailed by 69-65 until Ginobili ran off nine points during a 13-2 spurt to send the margin back to 15 points at 82-67 with under a minute left in the stanza.

Boston used a 7-2 rally to get as close as nine, 90-81, with 5:42 remaining but the Spurs answered with 11 straight points to finish off the Celtics.

San Antonio outrebounded the Celtics by a 48-31 margin and outscored Boston in the paint, 46-32.

The Celtics are 1 1/2 games behind seventh place Cleveland and New York in the East. Boston is just a half-game ahead of 10th place Toronto.

The Celtics have a long break before hosting the New Jersey Nets at the FleetCenter on Friday night. Boston has lost both of its meetings with the Nets this season. The Celtics have two meetings left with the Nets.