The San Antonio Spurs are a daunting matchup for any NBA team. The Boston Celtics made them sweat Tuesday night despite playing more than half of the game without three important rotation players.

But in the end, the unique talents of Victor Wembanyama proved too much for Boston to handle.

With Jaylen Brown ejected late in the second quarter and Payton Pritchard (neck spasm) and Nikola Vucevic (fractured finger) both sidelined by injuries, the Celtics faded down the stretch in a 125-116 road loss to the No. 2 team in the NBA.

Wembanyama went 8 for 15 from 3-point range to finish with a game-high 39 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. Derrick White nearly matched the Spurs star’s output with 34 points on 11-of-22 shooting, seven assists and five rebounds, and Jayson Tatum tallied 24 points (10 for 24; 4 for 14 from 3), five rebounds, two assists and two steals in his third game back from Achilles surgery.

The Celtics also got a career-best outing from two-way player Ron Harper Jr., who went 8 for 11 and 6 for 9 from deep to carry his team’s depleted bench. But the story of the game for Boston was Brown’s early exit, which came after the All-Star wing received back-to-back technical fouls for arguing with officials.

The Spurs entered with the second-best record and third-best net rating in the NBA, and they’ve been scorching hot of late, winning 16 of their last 17. Boston came in with a similar profile: Fourth-best record, second-best net rating, 14-3 in their previous 17.

Wembanyama’s eight-foot wingspan caused some early problems for Boston. The Spurs star opened the scoring with a putback off the backboard, then rejected a Neemias Queta layup.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla called Queta to the bench after less than four minutes and tweaked his rotation from that point forward, deploying the stretchier Luka Garza during Wembanyama’s minutes and using Queta against San Antonio’s more traditional backup center, ex-Celtic Luke Kornet.

Garza drilled a wide-open 3-pointer on his first touch of the game to spark a 10-1 Celtics run.

Brown steered that rally with composed, aggressive play at both ends, helping force turnovers on back-to-back Spurs possessions and dishing out four first-quarter assists. Tatum got off to a slower start — he misfired on his first three shots, all from 3-point range, including a regrettable one-footed runner — but scored five points in 28 seconds later in the quarter.

The Celtics also got 13 first-quarter points from their depleted bench, including a 3 and a layup by Harper, who spent part of the night matched up against his younger brother, Spurs rookie Dylan.

Boston held a 51-49 lead with 3:38 to play in the first half when Brown was tossed from the game for arguing a no-call against Spurs guard Stephon Castle. Brown believed Castle had fouled him along the sideline. Referee Tyler Ford disagreed, ruling that Brown had lost the ball out of bounds without illegal contact from his defender.

After 15 seconds of passionate arguing from Brown while play continued, Ford assessed him a technical foul. When Brown continued his protest — and teammates White, Sam Hauser and Baylor Scheierman stepped in to hold him back — a different official, Suyash Mehta, T’d Brown up for the second time, triggering the second ejection of his 10-year NBA career.

Brown has voiced his displeasure with what he views as slanted officiating several times this season, including a profane rant after the last Celtics-Spurs matchup on Jan. 10 that earned him a $35,000 fine. He did not wait until after Tuesday’s game to speak out on his dismissal, tweeting “This the (expletive) I be talking about” minutes after leaving the court at the Frost Bank Center.

His final line: Eight points on 4-of-8 shooting, seven assists, two rebounds and one steal in 15 minutes.

The Spurs pulled even at halftime, 68-68, and built a six-point lead early in the third quarter against the short-handed Celtics. Boston rallied, however, scoring points on seven consecutive possessions to pull back ahead.

On several of those baskets, White and Tatum went straight at Wembanyama, successfully attacking the NBA’s premier shot-blocker. White drove on Wembanyama and snuck a layup past him, then hit a 3-pointer over his towering outstretched arm. Tatum then isolated against the Spurs big man, fooled him with an up-fake, finished at the rim and smiled after being hip-checked to the ground.

An 8-2 San Antonio run in the late third and early fourth quarter threatened to put the game away, but the Celtics again responded. With his team trailing 100-90, Tatum poured in seven straight points — a driving layup, a midrange fadeaway and a banked-in 3 — to make it a one-score game.

Tatum then checked out, and the Celtics’ bench kept them in it. Harper drilled another three off glass to beat the shot block and followed it up with a layup in traffic. A subsequent 3-pointer by Scheierman cut the deficit to 106-105.

But that’s as close as Boston could get. Wembanyama snatched momentum back with a dunk and a 3, and the Celtics’ offense went cold. The Spurs held the visitors scoreless for four straight minutes, during which they stretched a one-point lead to 13.

The Celtics had one last push in them — two White free throws and treys by Harper and Tatum made it 118-113 with 1:43 remaining — but makes by Castle and De’Aaron Fox shut the door on Boston’s comeback bid. Mazzulla emptied his bench in the final minute, closing the game with his entire 2025 draft class (Hugo Gonzalez, Amari Williams and Max Shulga) on the floor.

Up next for the Celtics: A visit to the top-ranked, defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday.

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