Asked in the locker room about the bucket he scored for Boston, Blair went silent for several seconds. Then he broke into a smile and said, "I tried to grab it with one hand but I should have grabbed it with two. That's never happened to me before."

It was one of a perhaps a couple costly gaffes for the Spurs. Michael Finley hit a corner 3-pointer with 12.9 seconds left that might have kept the Spurs alive, but he fired with his foot out of bounds.

Popovich confessed before the game that the Celtics presented an early benchmark for the Spurs, who have started to come around after a sluggish 4-6 start. San Antonio pulled together a five-game win streak while playing just two teams, Houston and Milwaukee, with winning records.

Parker finished with 17 points and seven assists, and Manu Ginobili had 11 points.

NOTES: Celtics F Glen Davis had the cast and pins removed from his broken right hand Thursday, but he'll be fitted for another to wear about two more weeks. Davis has not played yet this season. ... The Spurs had a season-high 20 offensive rebounds.