BOSTON — LaMarcus Aldridge tallied 24 points and Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili posted their record 541st win as a threesome as the San Antonio Spurs stopped the Boston Celtics 95-87 Sunday.
The Spurs star trio had a quiet night on the scoresheet but that didn’t take anything away from the milestone NBA win which fittingly came against the Celtics.
“They’re three wonderful players,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. “They just care about winning games.”
The Spurs held off the Boston Celtics to give the players the most victories by a threesome in NBA history, breaking their tie with Boston’s Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.
Free-agent signee forward Aldridge delivered three straight baskets that helped nullify a late Boston comeback. He also had 14 rebounds and five assists as San Antonio improved to 2-1 on the season.
Centre Duncan scored seven points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out five assists while guards Ginobili and Parker scored 13 and six points, respectively. Ginobili came off the bench to add eight assists.
The win was San Antonio’s eighth straight over the Celtics, who refused to give up after trailing by as many as 15. Boston reduced the deficit to just four on three occasions late but could get no closer.
Raptors 106, Bucks 87: Jonas Valanciunas scored 19 points and Patrick Patterson added 16 as Toronto defeated Milwaukee at Air Canada Centre.
Valanciunas paced the attack for the Raptors as Dwane Casey became the most successful coach in franchise history with the 157th victory of his career.
DeMar DeRozan had 15 points and four assists, and Kyle Lowry added 15 points and seven assists as six Raptors scored double figures. Bismack Biyombo had a game-high 10 rebounds.
Heat 109, Rockets 89: Hassan Whiteside scored 25 points to lead Miami to a comeback victory over Houston.
Dwyane Wade finished with 20 points for the Heat, who trailed by as many as 21 points early in the third period and erased a 19-point halftime deficit, outscoring the Rockets 31-12 in the third quarter.
Luol Deng scored 14 points and Justise Winslow and Tyler Johnson were Miami’s other double-digit scorers with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Whiteside also had 15 rebounds.
Hawks 94, Hornets 92: Kent Bazemore led a balanced attack with 20 points, and Atlanta beat Charlotte for the second time in three days.
The Hawks took the lead for good on Paul Millsap’s three-pointer with 40.7 seconds left.
Jeff Teague added 18 points and six assists for the Hawks. Al Horford had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Millsap had 16 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Thunder 117, Nuggets 93: Kevin Durant scored 25 points to lead Oklahoma City over Denver at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Bulls 92, Magic 87: Pau Gasol scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Chicago held on for a win over Orlando.
Mavericks 103, Lakers 93: Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and Dallas defeated Los Angeles for the eighth consecutive time. — Agencies
