Boston 100, San Antonio 112 - Defense Proves No Match for Spurs Offense

Despite a few fourth quarter charges, the Boston Celtics fell to the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday night, 112-100.

In a premier matchup between two of the better teams in the NBA, the Celtics were simply outclassed.

The Celtics fell behind by double-digits for much of the fourth quarter, as they were dominated inside. The Spurs' height provided extreme mismatches all evening, and in the final frame it only got worse.

Tiago Splitter came off the San Antonio bench to annihilate the Celtics in the paint.

The reserve big man tallied 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Most of his work came in final frame when he was running alongside Tim Duncan. The two were simply too much to handle.

Rajon Rondo never quit fighting, as the point guard came up with a few enormous baskets in the final quarter to keep pulling his team back into the game.

Rondo really got up for his matchup with Tony Parker. The two point guards were going at it all night. Rondo may have won the individual battle with 22 points and 15 assists, but it was Parker's team that won the war.

Parker finished with 26 points on 12-of-17 shooting, including a flurry of unblockable floaters.

Boston's bench was fairly silent again. Though everyone scored, no one topped five points.

The Spurs shot 58 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc, as the Celtics defense was no match for their offensive flow. One team was clearly more familiar with one another, while the other is still learning habits and characteristics of their teammates.

With the loss, Boston falls back to 6-6 on the season. They return to action Friday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder. San Antonio improves to 9-3.