Spurs, in ‘rough patch’ from long range, will endeavor to find touch against Celtics

The San Antonio Spurs will try to break out of a shooting slump when they visit the Boston Celtics on Saturday night.

Although San Antonio is shooting 35% from 3-point territory this season, the Spurs have made only 27.6% of their attempts from beyond the arc (72 of 261) over the past seven games. The team has a 3-4 record during that stretch.

"We're trying to stay aggressive whether (3s) falling or not," San Antonio's Stephon Castle said. "A lot of our kick-out 3s come from us continuing to attack the basket. When we start to make them, it's going to open up the paint even more for us.

"I feel like we were getting the process right. I feel like we were taking the right shots, making the right plays, they just (aren't) falling for us. Just trying not to get away from that. Trying to stick with what's working for us whether the shots are falling or not, and trusting that if we continue to make the right plays they'll eventually fall."

Despite shooting 4 for 25 from behind the 3-point arc, the Spurs beat the Los Angeles Lakers 107-91 Wednesday night.

San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said it's important for his team to continue to play fast and dictate the tempo when it is not shooting well from the perimeter.

"We didn't make a lot of shots obviously from the outside," Johnson said following the win on Wednesday. "We talked a lot about that and have talked a lot about that in terms of not allowing that to dictate our body language, attitude, energy, pace.

"I'll take our percentages and our guys over time. It's a rough patch and that's why you gotta do other parts of the game and just shoot shots and you win games like this because it means you're doing other stuff pretty good."

Boston will be playing its second game in as many nights and the final contest of a four-game homestand. The Celtics shot 14 of 28 from 3-point territory in a 125-117 victory over Toronto on Friday night. The win followed Wednesday's 114-110 home loss to Denver.

"I like that we come in the next day (after a game) and can't tell if it's a win or a loss," Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. "That to me is my favorite. ... If we want to get better, that's important."

Anfernee Simons, Boston's first player off the bench, continues to play well despite dealing with trade rumors. Simons made three 3-pointers and finished with 15 points against Toronto.

Simons has scored at least 14 points in each of his past six games.

"Since Day 1 he's done a great job controlling what he can control," Mazzulla said. "Every night he gets better and better."

Victor Wembanyama returned to action Tuesday after sitting out two games with a bone bruise in his left knee. He came off the bench and tossed in a game-high 30 points in a 106-105 loss to Memphis. Wembanyama is averaging a team-high 24.2 points per game.

Johnson said Wembanyama's playing time will be closely monitored Saturday.

"We will be mindful of his minutes, which means there will be a restriction," he said. "He's not going to play 40 minutes anytime soon."