BOSTON -- The trade that brought Kawhi Leonard to San Antonio was already a success for the Spurs, even before throw-in Davis Bertans began contributing.The Latvian rookie set a career high in scoring for the second straight game, pitching in 15 of the Spurs 56 bench points on Friday to help San Antonio beat the Boston Celtics 109-103 for their eighth straight victory.Our first group was still in bed, Spurs coach Greg Popovich said after watching his team fall behind 14 points in the first quarter in the matinee start. Thats why I took them off the court. It was hard to watch.Leonard had 25 points and 10 rebounds for San Antonio, but thats not surprising from an All-Star who was second in NBA MVP voting last season. Less expected was the contribution from Bertans, who was selected 27 picks later in the 2011 draft and then dealt to San Antonio with Leonard in the trade that sent George Hill to Indiana.Bertans was amazing, Popovich said. Kawhi is Kawhi, but we start to take him for granted. I think overall the bench was the key.Patty Mills scored 19 off the bench, sinking a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left after the Celtics made it a one-possession game. David Lee had 15 points and 12 rebounds as the Spurs reserves outscored their starters 56-53.The Spurs fell behind by 14 points in the first quarter but scored 12 in a row -- seven from Leonard -- in the second to get back in the game and improve to 9-0 on the road this season.You know what youre getting from Kawhi, and he played great, Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. But I thought those guys really changed the complexion of the game.Isaiah Thomas finished with 24 points with eight assists and Avery Bradley had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Celtics. Al Horford had 12 points and 10 rebounds in his second home game since signing a four-year, $113-million contract with Boston this summer.Jae Crowder scored 10 of his 18 points in the first quarter. The Celtics had won three in a row, but they lost to San Antonio for the 10th straight time.Home, road, 20 years, whatever its been: they finish, Stevens said.LOOKING BACKA 6-foot-10 forward, Bertans spent much of the last five years playing in Europe and recovering from ACL injuries. He signed with San Antonio this summer and has played in 13 of 16 games so far this season.Leonard, who was the No. 15 overall pick by the Pacers in the 2011 draft, said he had no memory of Bertans name from that night.I was just thinking of myself, he said.RUNSBoston used an 18-2 run to turn a two-point deficit into a 24-10 lead. But the Spurs were just as impressive in the second, when they scored 12 straight points to make it a one-point game.We gave up the whole first quarter, and after that we knuckled down and played pretty good, Popovich said. And the starters came back in and played better after that too.The Celtics led 74-69 with 25 seconds left in the third quarter before Bertans hit a 3-pointer and Mills made a 34-foot 3-pointer just before the buzzer to give the Spurs the lead. Bertans also hit a 3 to start the fourth.TIP-INSSpurs: Improved to 5-0 vs. Eastern Conference teams. ... Bertans, who set his career-high with 11 against Charlotte on Wednesday, broke it in the first three quarters against Boston. ... Tyler Zeller and Danny Green were teammates on the North Carolina team that won the 2009 NCAA title.Celtics: Horford, the Celtics biggest free-agent acquisition of the summer, played just his second home game this season -- his first since the opener. He missed nine games with a concussion and returned for the last three games -- all on the road. ... Crowder scored his 2,500th career point.UP NEXTSpurs: Visit the Wizards on Saturday to end a three-game road trip.Celtics: Visit the Heat on Monday night. Boston swept the 2015-16 series 3-0 against Miami. The Heat are 4-10 and could be headed for a second year without a playoff appearance in three seasons since LeBron James returned to Cleveland.Colorado Rockies Shirts . McPhee said that Ovechkins father Mikhail is in stable condition after having the surgery this week and is no longer in intensive care. "Weve told him to stay as long as necessary with your dad," he said. Ovechkin and his Russian national team were eliminated from the mens hockey tournament in Sochi on Wednesday with a 3-1 quarter-final loss to Finland. Rockies Jerseys 2020 . "I was fortunate to play many years at this level with a great organization and unbelievable teammates," said Hejduk in a statement. https://www.cheaprockiesjerseys.us/ . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. Colorado Rockies Pro Shop . The Masters champion and winner of last weeks Australian PGA has a three-round total of 14-under 199 at Royal Melbourne. "Im in a really good position for tomorrow," Scott said. Rockies Jerseys China . -- Bobby Ryan helped the U.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Kevin Harvick has found himself against the ropes in NASCARs playoffs in each of the last two years. Tired of having to fight his way into the championship race, he is determined to leave nothing to chance.A win two weeks ago at New Hampshire earned him an automatic berth in the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Hed like a win Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway to push him right into the third round.For this three-race segment, the 2014 NASCAR champion has eyed Charlotte as a track that gives him a good shot at a victory. The round also goes to Kansas next week before concluding at Talladega Superspeedway.Charlotte is probably the one Im looking forward to the most, Harvick said. Weve had so much success there. Weve run well there, really, every time weve been there with our Stewart-Haas Racing cars.Harvick has three career points victories at Charlotte, including the October race during his championship season. That victory pushed Harvick into the round of eight of the Chase.Hes also has had success racing at night, something Charlotte Motor Speedway President Marcus Smith noted this week. He dubbed Harvick Nighthawk because Harvick has not finished outside the top 10 at night in the last seven races. Hes only been outside the top-five twice in that span.Harvick has also won six times in night races on the NASCAR schedule since 2012.But with practice time during the daylight this weekend, hes not sure what to expect.Charlotte is a really finicky racetrack and, with the way we practice, most of the practice will be done during the day with the race being at night, he said. Temperature has a huge factor in how the racetrack changes, how the pace changes, so you have to try to guess a little bit on that. You have to try to plan and balance all those things to have a good plan, but you have to be ready to abort that plan and come up with a new one on the fly at any given point.CLAUSON-MOST POPULARThe late Bryan Clauson was honored as the fanss favorite driver in the IndyCar Series during a remembrance for the three-time Indianapolis 500 starter.ddddddddddddlauson died from injuries suffered in a sprint car crash in Kansas in August. He was leading when he was involved in the accident, which came in his 116th race of the year. Popular throughout the paddock, Clauson was attempting to race in 200 events this year and was one of the most well-liked drivers in every series.He was remembered during IndyCars season-ending awards ceremony Tuesday night by Conor Daly, who was teammates with Clauson during this years Indianapolis 500 and, like Clauson, grew up in Noblesville, Indiana.You could always tell Bryan had such a strong positive impact on the racing world because everyone across the sport was happy to see him get a shot in the Indy 500, Daly said. It was a true pleasure getting to work with Bryan this year at Indy and to see the whole crowd and everyone around us support him and love seeing him there. He was and forever will be a driver to look up to, a person to strive to be like, and a hero.RACE OF CHAMPIONSJuan Pablo Montoya and Tony Kanaan will both compete in this years Race Of Champions all-star event, which will be held in their adopted hometown of Miami.Kanaan competed in the event in 2004, the year of his IndyCar championship, when it was held in France. The Brazilian partnered with Felipe Massa and the duo advanced to the semifinals.Having the race here in my backyard is the perfect opportunity to be part of it and to race against the biggest names from motorsport around the world, Kanaan said.Montoya will be making his Race of Champions debut. He and Kanaan bring the field to eight confirmed drivers for the event. Also committed to date for the January 21-22 race at Marlins Park Stadium are Ryan Hunter-Reay, Sebastian Vettel, nine-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Tom Kristensen and Kurt Busch. ' ' '