FILE–Dejounte Murray #5 of the San Antonio Spurs. Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images/AFP
Dejounte Murray had 22 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds in his return from the NBA’s health and safety protocol to help the San Antonio Spurs hold off the host Boston Celtics 99-97 on Wednesday night.
Murray was cleared from COVID protocol before the game and returned after missing five games. Derrick White and Devin Vassell added 17 points apiece for the Spurs, who snapped their four-game losing streak. San Antonio held on after taking a 99-95 lead with 1:32 to play.
Boston’s Jaylen Brown led all scorers with 30 points while Jayson Tatum added 19 points and eight rebounds in his return from the COVID protocol in Boston’s 10th loss in 16 games.
Tatum played for the first time since the team’s Christmas Day loss at Milwaukee. Brown was coming off a career-high 50-point, 11-rebound performance in Boston’s 116-111 overtime victory vs. Orlando on Sunday.
"I'm just happy to get back on the winning side. It's hard watching your team lose and we did this together."@DejounteMurray has 22 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds in his first game back. 💪😤👏 He talks about the @spurs thrilling win over the Celtics. #PorVida pic.twitter.com/d0Xn9k0zUx
— Bally Sports San Antonio (@BallySportsSA) January 6, 2022
San Antonio held a 58-56 advantage at the break after neither side led by more than six in the opening half. Leading 80-77 entering the fourth quarter, the Spurs clung to a narrow lead for most of the period.
Boston pulled to 90-89 on Marcus Smart’s layup with 7:15 remaining, but Keldon Johnson nailed a 3-pointer and White sank a 14-foot jumper to make it 95-89 San Antonio with 4:33 left.
Tatum and Dennis Schroder hit jumpers to trim the deficit to 95-93 with nearly four minutes to play. After Johnson’s jumper and Brown’s layup, Murray’s 11-footer had the Spurs on top 99-95 with 1:32 remaining.
Schroder’s layup with 1:05 to play made it a two-point game, and Brown poked the ball loose and forced a jump ball with 14.1 seconds on the clock. San Antonio eventually corralled the jump, and White was fouled.
After a timeout, Brown stole the inbound pass and drove the length of the court before missing a layup as time expired.
It was the first meeting between Celtics coach Ime Udoka and his former coach and mentor, Gregg Popovich.
Udoka played under Popovich in San Antonio from 2007 to 2011 and served as an assistant under Popovich from 2012 to 2019.