SAN ANTONIO — The Boston Celtics finally got a big win and their big man back. They may also reclaim the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
And the San Antonio Spurs, at this dismal rate, may give first place in the West away.
Rajon Rondo had 22 points and 14 assists, center Jermaine O’Neal returned from knee surgery, and the Celtics ended a miserable March by not slipping further from first in the East, beating the slumping Spurs 107-97 on Thursday night.
Paul Pierce added 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Kevin Garnett scored 20. The Celtics won for just the second time in five games and, ending the month at 9-7, moved within two games of Chicago for the No. 1 playoff seed with eight games to go.
“This is a good place to try and gather some momentum,” Pierce said. “You talk about the team with the best record. What better place to get back on track than here?”
Yet these days, San Antonio’s luster isn’t what it used to be.
The Spurs lost their fifth straight — their longest skid all season — and the timing couldn’t be worse. San Antonio has seven games left but is in danger of falling out of first place after comfortably being No. 1 in the West all season.
San Antonio’s woes have renewed hopes the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas have of taking the top spot. The Lakers were 3 games back and hosted the Mavericks — who were 3½ games behind the Spurs —later Thursday night.
“Of course we want to be No. 1. We don’t want to give it way just because we like being underdogs,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. “We want to win it. We put ourselves in an unbelievable situation.”
Tony Parker led the Spurs with 23 points. Tim Duncan returned after missing the last four games with a sprained ankle and finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
The Celtics celebrated the return of their own big man: O’Neal. The 14-year veteran played for the first time since January after having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He scored five points in 11 minutes and hit his only two shots.
He turned his last into a three-point play after getting fouled, a play that swung the momentum back to Boston after the Spurs had gotten within seven early in the fourth.
O’Neal said he felt winded at times and said he was shocked at the pace of the game. It was just the 18th game for O’Neal this season.
“We need him back,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers, alluding to his depleted frontcourt that is still without Shaquille O’Neal. “And we need the minutes.”
Glen Davis scored 16 points as Boston had four players in double figures.
The Celtics broke open a tie game at halftime behind a 12-0 run in the third quarter. The Spurs never got closer than six after that.
The Celtics arrived in San Antonio after losing to Indiana, Charlotte and Memphis in three of their last four games. Two weeks ago, Boston (52-22) was tied for first place in the East.
Miami has also crawled back into contention for first, sitting a half-game behind Boston, but a big win against the toughest opponent they’ve seen in weeks kept the Celtics ahead of the Heat.
Then again, the Spurs aren’t looking so tough lately.
San Antonio (57-18) didn’t panic after losing four games with Duncan sidelined. But not even its starting five back and healthy could help the Spurs stop their season-worst skid.
The Spurs had nine losses at the All-Star break. They’ve dropped more than half that number of games in the past week alone.
“It happens to everybody. And this is about the worst time it could happen, at the end of the year,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said before tipoff. “If it has to happen, you want it to happen 30 games in so you can get back and recover. So we got to step on it.”
Ginobili, who sat out Monday’s loss against Portland with a left quad contusion, had nine points on just 4-of-13 shooting. Richard Jefferson added 14 points.
NOTES: Boston swept the season series 2-0 and will be the only team the Spurs didn’t beat this season. … Spurs F Antonio McDyess tweaked his left ankle in the second half but was cleared to return.
Wall suspended
NEW YORK — Wizards rookie John Wall has been suspended one game without pay and two Miami Heat players were fined for their actions in Wednesday night’s game at Washington.
NBA Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Stu Jackson announced the penalties Thursday in a statement.
In addition to Wall’s suspension, Heat forward Juwan Howard was handed a $35,000 fine and teammate Zydrunas Ilgauskas was fined $25,000 following a scuffle in the second quarter of the Heat’s 123-107 win over the Wizards.
Wall was playing tight defense on Ilgauskas, who while protecting the ball appeared to elbow Wall in the face at least once. Wall then swung his right hand at Ilgauskas.
“Got hit by the elbow and reacted to it. Disappointed in the way I reacted. I let my teammates down, let the organization down,” Wall said. “It was two elbows. I got hit with the first one; I stopped and waited. And the second one, I got hit, and I just reacted.”
Wizards center JaVale McGee tried to separate the two and was pushed by Howard. Wall and Ilgauskas each received a flagrant foul-2 and were ejected. Howard was called for a technical and ejected for escalation.
“Ilgauskas tried to punk (Wall), hit him in the face with his elbow,” McGee said. “Obviously, (Wall) wasn’t going for it. … I went over there to break it up, and Juwan Howard tried to come over and blind-side, push me, or whatever.”
Wall high-fived fans as he walked from the court to the home locker room, ejected for the second time from an NBA game. It also happened Feb. 4, when he was called for two technicals in a loss to the Orlando Magic. He will serve his suspension Friday at home against Cleveland.
Howard, who used to play for Washington, also was involved in a flare-up between the Wizards and Heat in November. In that game, Washington’s Hilton Armstrong flagrantly fouled Miami’s Joel Anthony. Howard then pushed Armstrong in the back, and they both were ejected.