Ferry may not be the best at making friends on the court, but he's earned some love in his own locker room. On Saturday, he gave his teammates more than a few reasons to love him, contributing 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 28 minutes ? all season highs ? to help Tim Duncan (a ho-hum 37 points) lift the Spurs to their ninth straight victory in front of 34,753 at the Alamodome.

Not only did the Spurs (45-21) put a stop to the Celtics' own seven-game winning streak, they also made sure Boston never left the Alamodome ? only slightly less hallowed than Boston Garden ? with a win. The Celtics have not won in San Antonio since Feb. 14, 1990, back when Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish were still in green uniforms, David Robinson was a rookie and Ferry was roaming the back roads of Italy.

More than 12 years later, Ferry turned in his best performance in a Spurs jersey. After not scoring more than 11 points in a game this season, he hung up 10 in the final 2:11 and hit three 3-pointers in the final quarter.