The San Antonio Spurs are heading into a tough weekend slate. They’ll travel to take on two of the league’s best teams in back-to-back games. The road trip will start in Boston for a matchup against the red-hot Celtics. Boston has won eight of its last ten games. They’ll be playing on the second game of a back-to-back, after defeating the Toronto Raptors Friday night.
The Spurs are coming off a bounce-back game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. San Antonio seemed to get its offensive rhythm
back in the second half. They’ll look to keep that momentum going against a Boston team that likes to slow the pace (30th in the NBA) and holds teams to low scores (110.6 points per game). They are an efficient team on both ends, 2nd in offensive rating.
Taking down a team like the Celtics would be another statement victory for the Spurs, and a step toward getting back on track.
San Antonio Spurs (26-11) vs. Boston Celtics (24-13)
January 10, 2025 | 7 PM CT
Watch: Fan Duel | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs Injuries: Carter Byrant – Questionable (G League), Julian Champagnie – Questionable (back), Harrison Ingram – Out (G League), Stanley Umude – Out (G League), David Jones-Garcia – Out (G League), Devin Vassell – Out (adductor)
Celtics Injuries: Not posted until 1 pm CT
What to watch for:
Three-point shooting
The Celtics are an elite three-point shooting team. They have a plethora of floor-spacing guards and wings, and then a tough big man in Neemias Queta to clean things up inside. If the Spurs can’t contain driving lanes and contest shooters, the Celtics will feast offensively. At the same time, Boston’s defensive vulnerability is its three-point defense. Teams are shooting 37.2% from three against the C’s. San Antonio has struggled to shoot from deep this month. They’ll need to hit threes if they want to have a chance against Boston.
Victor Wembanyama’s minutes
Here is a statement that will surprise no one: the Spurs are better when Victor Wembanyama is on the floor. The Spurs are +12.1 when Wemby is on the floor. The issue is that he hasn’t been on the floor as often as San Antonio would like. That could be changing soon. Wembanyama played 26 minutes on Wednesday after previously being held to 20 minutes. Could he be in for another minute increase on Saturday? He should have an offensive advantage against Boston. Queta is a good big man, but the Celtics generally lack the 1-0n-1 defenders to slow down Wemby.
Jeremy Sochan’s role
Welcome back to the rotation, Jeremy Sochan. He’s played meaningful minutes in the past two games and looked pretty good during that stretch. With the Spurs potentially being down two wings, Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie, Sochan should get a good amount of playing time. Boston has a superstar wing in Jaylen Brown. Sochan, along with Stephon Castle, will likely be tasked with slowing him down. Sochan was effective against Luka Doncic on Wednesday, so expect him to get a crack at Brown on Saturday.
