B: Tiago Splitter
Gregg Popovich tinkered with his starting lineup tonight, placing Splitter alongside Tim Duncan. Splitter outplayed Duncan in 28 minutes, giving San Antonio a near double-double with 16 points and eight boards. Previously, Pop was deterred from instituting this combination because of the pitfalls of a Blair-Bonner pairing, now mitigated by Boris Diaw, and the poor spacing resulting from two big man. As Splitter has been used more often as an all-purpose roll man, this hasn’t been an issue. Splitter also added four nifty assists, his second-highest total of the season.

C: Tim Duncan
Duncan recorded his lowest point total of the season with five points. He misfired often, missing 11 of 13 shots, though he remained a threat on the defense glass. This wasn’t a back-to-back but you wouldn’t have known otherwise judging by his rare stinker.

D: Rajon Rondo
The Spurs limited the league’s leading assist man to nine on the night, marking the second time all season in which he failed to record 10 assists. Rondo turned the ball over seven times, tying a season-high, as the Spurs defense prevented his teammates from creating clean looks from the perimeter.

F: Brandon Bass
Bass hoisted five shots, making one and scoring two points. Boston expects more from Bass, one of the league’s premier mid-range shooters.

Dec 8, 2012; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics shooting guard Jason Terry (4) reacts after his three point basket against the Philadelphia 76ers during the first quarter at the TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

The Spurs will win if: They shoot well. This goes for most nights, of course, but since Boston is adept at turnover creation and defending the boards, possessions will be at a premium.

The Spurs will lose if: Boston takes a bunch of long 2-pointers. This may seem counter-intuitive.

Long 2-pointers are supposed to be good for the defense and bad for the offense. It’s been proven.

The Celtics are the rare team in which the more of these inefficient shots they take, the better their offense is running. When the Celtics attempt more than 20 shots from 16-23 feet, league average is 19, they are 8-5. Their record improves to 6-2 if they make 40 percent of their long 2-pointers while attempting at least 20 shots.

The Spurs defense baits teams to take these shots and that is part of the reason why they hold the second-ranked defense (adjusted for schedule).

In all likelihood, Boston will have space to shoot from mid-range and this interesting statistical trend will be put to the test.

X-Factor: The Celtics are currently losing the Jason Terry for Ray Allen swap. (The same holds true if you include Courtney Lee.)

Allen is shooting a career-high 46.3 percent behind the arc this season. Yet Miami is a substantially worse team with Allen on the floor, outscoring their opponent by 7.2 points per 100 possessions fewer according to NBA.com/Stats.

Boston, meanwhile, is 11.3 points per 100 possessions better with Terry. Terry isn’t shooting better — an uptick to 52 percent on long 2-pointers, notwithstanding — and his shot creation duties have been dialed down.

Boston has put Terry in a position to catch-and-shoot rather than probe in the lane. 78.8 percent of his shot attempts are assisted up from 49.9 percent last season.

Because Terry is able to shoot from every spot on the floor, Boston isn’t as predictable and Rajon Rondo has more of the court to utilize. In 22 games, the Celtics offense has been more efficient with Terry than they were with Allen last season — by nearly two points per 100 possessions.