The Boston Celtics extended their winning streak to six games with a 134-101 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night, led by Jayson Tatum’s 25 points and Jaylen Brown’s 24.

Derrick White had 17 points against his previous team, and Kristaps Porzingis had 14 points and nine rebounds in his return from a calf ailment.

“We got stops,” said Boston coach Joe Mazzulla. “I thought we did a good job of protecting the paint and getting out to contest, which allowed us to get out in transition.” “I think we did a good job in our secondary transition of recognizing where the mismatch was, getting to it quickly, and playing together as a team through it.”

San Antonio’s Devin Vassell had 22 points and Victor Wembanyama had 21 points and seven rebounds. The Spurs have lost seven of their last eight games.

“They are a championship-caliber team, that’s what they’re out there for, that’s their goal, and they proved it once again,” said San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich. “Joe does an excellent job with them. They have good talent, definitely all-star talent, and they have tenacity. They have good execution and are improving all the time. That is a difficult challenge for our group at this time.”

Boston finished the month of December with a record of 12-2.

The game between the Eastern Conference’s top club and the Western Conference’s bottom team went as expected.

“I can feel that compared to the past years, they have something extra this year,” Wembanyama went on to say. “Of course, playing against them is difficult, but it’s a good challenge.” But I believe we learned something today.”

Boston led by as many as 37 points at one point and rested its starters for the whole of the fourth quarter.

For the sixth time this season, San Antonio never led when trailing by 35 points or more in a game.

Keldon Johnson missed the game due to lower back spasms, while Zach Collins hurt his ankle. Without them, the Spurs offense faltered.

San Antonio’s first 17 points came from Wembanyama and Vassell. In the first quarter, the tandem shot 5 for 20 from the field. The Spurs’ remaining players went 2 for 14. San Antonio shot 12 for 44 from beyond the arc.

For Spurs fans, Wembanyama delivered some of the few highlights. In the second quarter, the 7-foot-3 rookie followed up a reverse dunk off an alley-oop pass from Tre Jones with a 3-pointer that cut Boston’s lead to 38-29.

Wembanyama also took off from the free throw line with the ball held over his head for a one-handed slam against White.

“I’m not an idiot,” White replied, chuckling. “I was hoping he’d take another dribble so I could try that (strip or steal), but he grabbed it and I never saw it again.” So all I was doing was attempting to get out of the path. That was insane.”

Boston enjoyed a 23-14 advantage in total rebounds and limited San Antonio to one offensive rebound in the first half.

Six Celtics players scored in double figures.

Apart from Wembanyama and Vassell, the only other player to score in double figures was Spurs second-year player Malaki Branham (11 points).