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Spurs shoot for continued success against Celtics

Jan 22, 2007 - 3:23 PM San Antonio (29-13) at Boston (12-27) 7:30 pm EST

BOSTON (Ticker) -- One of the NBA's most-storied franchises, the Boston Celtics are not what they used to be. The San Antonio Spurs certainly have taken advantage.

The Spurs look to continue their dominance of the Celtics when the teams square off in Boston on Monday.

San Antonio has won its last 17 meetings with Boston, the NBA's longest current streak for one team against another. The Spurs, who have posted 11 of those wins by at least 10 points, have not tasted defeat against the Celtics since January 8, 1997.

Even more impressive, the Spurs have not lost at home to the Celtics in 16 games since a setback on February 14, 1990.

The Spurs rolled to their sixth win in eight games on Sunday, a 99-85 triumph at Philadelphia.

Brent Barry scored 23 points off the bench and Tim Duncan added 17 points and 15 rebounds for San Antonio, which had dropped five of its six previous contests at the Wachovia Center.

One of the NBA's winningest franchises, Boston currently is mired in a season-high seven-game skid and continues to struggle without leading scorer Paul Pierce, who has missed the last 15 games with an injured left foot.

The Celtics hope to bounce back from Saturday's heartbreaking 115-110 overtime loss at Washington. Ryan Gomes had a career-high 31 points and nine rebounds while rookie Allan Ray scored 20 points off the bench for the Celtics.