SAN ANTONIO — Kevin Garnett finally came back for Boston, but could only watch and writhe on the bench as the Celtics won a nail-biter.
Playing sparingly in his first game in a month, Garnett sat out a thrilling fourth quarter that ended with San Antonio missing six consecutive free throws to help Boston escape with an 80-77 win Friday night.
Ray Allen scored 19 points and Glen David hit a short fallaway with 2:10 left that wound up being the winner for Boston, which avenged a loss at home to San Antonio earlier this year.
Tony Parker led the Spurs with 25 points but missed four free throws in the final minute when San Antonio needed only two to tie the game.
Before Friday’s game, the NBA’s referees union criticized the league for fining an official who was involved in a dispute with Boston coach Doc Rivers.
Rivers was fined $25,000 Thursday for his postgame rant two nights earlier in Chicago against Bill Kennedy, who was docked an undisclosed amount. Rivers complained afterward that Kennedy had stared at him, goading the Celtics coach into receiving a second technical foul and an automatic ejection.
“It’s not a stare to start some kind of disagreement or goad him into getting ejected, it’s just like, ‘Hey, enough is enough,’ ” referees union spokesman Lamell McMorris told The Associated Press. “And basically he didn’t even stare him down. He walked away.”
