Kids don't be scared: Zombie Jermaine O'Neal is here to let us know the playoffs are coming

The San Antonio Spurs, the NBA's best team (record wise), came into last night's game on a four-game losing streak. They had never lost five games in the Tim Duncan era. They sat Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli and Antonio McDyess on Monday to get them set for their meeting against the Boston Celtics.

Short of Las Vegas taking this game off the board, this seemed like a lock for the Spurs since the Celtics were in a tailspin.

That's why they play the games folks. Boston conjured up its best effort in weeks with a 107-97 at the AT&T Center. The Celtics (52-22) finish 2-0 against San Antonio (57-18) in the regular season. The Bulls and Lakers are on fire right now but who knows, maybe we'll see these two teams meet again in June.

For the second straight game, Rajon Rondo was special. He had a team-high 22 points, 14 assists (no turnovers) and five rebounds. Most surprising, he kept knocking down important jump shots. (Rubs eyes) Is that the same Rondo I know?

Paul Pierce nearly had a triple-double with 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists while Kevin Garnett had 20 points and nine assists. Ray Allen (3 for 11) continued to struggle with his shot but he had 13 points.

The only bad news coming out of the game was the possible serious knee injury suffered by Nenad Krstic. His knee bent very awkwardly as he ran the floor and he's scheduled to have an MRI this weekend. If he's done for the season, it would be a big loss. Glen Davis stepped up off the bench as per usual and put up 16 points and eight rebounds.

Jermaine O'Neal played for the first time in two months, scoring five points in 11 minutes. Anything you get from that corpse is a bonus at this point. Von Wafer also returned (for 2 minutes) after missing a few weeks with a calf injury.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with a game-high 23 points and eight assists. Tim Duncan had 20 points and 13 assists with Richard Jefferson adding 14 points. Ginobili was held to nine points.

San Antonio came out flying and led 33-31 after the first quarter but it was knotted at 49 at halftime. Boston looked the NBA title contender it should be with a strong third quarter (28-21) and the fourth (30-27).

The Celts shot 54.8% to 43.3% for the Spurs. San Antonio hit six more 3-pointers (8-2) while Boston knocked down two more free throws (13-11). Propelled by Rondo's perfect night, the Cs had eight more dimes (29-21).

Boston plays in Atlanta tonight. It's a back to back so I'm not going to pretend that the Celtics will play anything like they did last night. However, the Hawks are so up and down that this might be the rare occasion that Boston can steal a back-to-back on the road.

You cannot underestimate the value of Rajon Rondo

This pains me to say it since I've been a KG fan forever (I bought a Minnesota Timberwolves jersey in college) but nobody is more valuable to the Boston Celtics at this second than Rajon Rondo.

Of course Kevin Garnett is still vital to what they do, especially defensively, but after Rondo notched a triple-double (12 points, 22 assists, 10 rebounds) last night as the Celts knocked off the San Antonio Spurs, 105-103 at the TD Garden, what other conclusion is there to make?

Boston (27-7) beat the NBA's top team, the Spurs (29-6), in a game that was the ultra-rare instant classic regular season NBA game.

This one had it all: crazy shots, plays, surprises and execution. As Bob Ryan said in the Boston Globe yesterday, the world is rooting for a Miami Heat vs. Los Angeles Lakers (sizzle vs. sizzle) NBA Finals this summer but after last night, we're both in agreement that Boston vs. San Antonio would be a true basketball fan's dream.

The win would not have been possible without an other-worldly shooting performance by the incomparable Ray Allen (13 of 16 for 31 points and six assists). The ironic part is that he bricked two late free throws that would have iced it but Manu Ginobili's (24 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals) had his jumper blocked by Paul Pierce (18 points) and Marquis Daniels (6 points, 3 rebounds) to end it.

All I can say is I hope that you watched this contest or at the very least saw the highlights. It was dedicated to your old-school friend or relative that complains about the NBA not being about fundamentals, etc. Riveting stuff in front of a great crowd.

Glen Davis had his best game in a while with 23 points. He seems to have found his jumper after a couple brutal shooting displays. As with most important wins, the role players stepped up too like Nate Robinson (7 points, 5 rebounds) who hit a couple key baskets.

The Spurs are the New England Patriots of the NBA (ie. extremely boring to outsiders) but you have to appreciate how good they've been over a long stretch of time (4 titles in 12 years).

Tim Duncan (18 points) has slowed down considerably but he can still get it done. Tony Parker (18 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) has put aside his divorce drama with Eva Longoria and is having a great season while Richard Jefferson (14 points) has reemerged after a terrible year last season.

Another easy comparison to the Patriots is that San Antonio gets the most out of its assorted bums like Matt Bonner (10 points) and Gary Neal (10 points) who shuttle through the team every year.

Boston led 27-25 after one quarter but trailed 51-49 at the half. The Celts opened it up with a good third quarter (28-21) but George Hill's buzzer-beater for 2 cut it to 77-72 after three. San Antonio won the fourth (31-29) which is impressive since the Cs looked like they had it in the bag, up nine with a little over a minute left.

For the game, the Celts shot 61.3% (which is absurd) to 45.3% for the Spurs. San Antonio had four more 3-pointers (9-5) and made eight more free throws (16-8). Besides the shooting percentage, the Cs not surprisingly won because of the assists (34-20).

The Toronto Raptors come to the TD Garden tomorrow night and what a letdown that will be. There won't be a game with this much hype and intrigue until the Celtics finally play the Lakers on January 30 in Los Angeles.

The San Antonio Spurs will put you to sleep and beat you

When you sit back and think about it objectively, the San Antonio Spurs are one of the greatest NBA teams in my lifetime and one of pro sports' truly dominant franchises.

So why do you never hear a word about them, even when they're winning championships? First of all, San Antonio is a tiny market and their biggest star-Tim Duncan-is a sort of anti-star.

He's not flashy, he doesn't have ridiculous dance routines with his teammates and therefore he's not suitable for a daily Sportscenter highlight.

Teamwork and unselfishness are not ways to make a name for yourself in the popularity contest that is the NBA but I'm here to salute the Spurs and their mind-numbing efficiency.

With the Celtics playing some of their best basketball of the season, the Spurs came into the TD Garden last night and dealt the C's their worst beating of the year, 94-73.

Tony Parker is out with a broken hand, which I'm sure his wife Eva Longoria is helping him nurse back to health (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) but the Spurs (44-28) haven't skipped a beat as they've found their game when it really matters.

Manu Ginobili is carrying them right now, as evidenced by his game-high 28 points and seven assists last night. George Hill, starting for Parker, added 15 points and Richard Jefferson, who's had an awful season with his new team, notched 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Boston (47-26) was held to its lowest scoring output of the season so not surprisingly the offensive numbers were pathetic. Paul Pierce led the Celts with 18 points but Kevin Garnett (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Shelden Williams (11 points off the bench) were the only Celtics with a pulse in that lifeless effort.

Believe it or not, it was a close game for the first half as Boston led 23-19 after the first quarter and trailed 44-43 at the half.

A 12-0 San Antonio run to start the third quarter shifted the momentum dramatically and the Spurs held the Celtics to 30 points in the second half. Duncan didn't even score in double figures in the rout, putting up eight points and nine rebounds.

Hopefully this was just a blip on the NBA calendar as the Oklahoma City Thunder come to the Garden on Wednesday night (before Houston and Cleveland wrap up this extended homestand).