BOSTON -- San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich was asked about his star trio Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili and their impending record for regular season wins by a trio.

"They're three wonderful players, but I don't look, nor do they, at records or games played, or that sort of thing," Popovich said. "They just care about winning games -- all that other stuff is pretty irrelevant."

Well, they won another game Sunday, the Spurs held off the Boston Celtics 95-87, giving the three players their 541st win as a group, breaking their tie with -- fittingly -- Boston's Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.

The three players, who were not talking after the game, didn't have a big scoring day. Free-agent signee forward LaMarcus Aldridge did -- scoring 24 points, including three straight baskets that helped quiet a late Celtics comeback, and adding 14 rebounds and five assists to lead the way for the Spurs (2-1).

Duncan, the forward/center of the trio, scored seven points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out five assists while guards Ginobili and Parker scored 13 and six points, respectively, and Ginobili, who was clutch late, added eight assists off the bench.

San Antonio won its second in a row despite really not playing all that well, doing what had to be done at the right time.

"I don't think we were great tonight," said Popovich. "I thought we were pretty inefficient offensively. I thought they did a good job defensively, and we didn't react real well I don't think."

The win was San Antonio's eighth in a row over Boston (1-2), which kept rallying late after trailing by as many as 15. The cold-shooting Celtics cut the deficit all the way down to four on three occasions late but could get no closer than that in the closing minutes.

Boston led once in the game -- at 2-0.

Forward Kawhi Leonard, who scored a career-high 32 points in a season-opening loss at Oklahoma City, nailed a big 3-pointer from the left corner and, after guard Marcus Smart answered with a trey for the Celtics, scored again. Parker then converted on a fast break to make it 90-83 with 2:02 left.

Leonard, who had 19 points and five rebounds, iced the game with two free throws with 28.6 seconds left.

The Celtics went 4 of 9 on 3-pointers in the final quarter but had been 2 of 20 in the first 36 minutes. They shot 35.7 from the floor in the game.

"I thought we played a lot better than we did on Friday night (a loss to Toronto) -- we just couldn't throw the ball in the ocean," said Boston coach Brad Stevens, who is still searching for combinations for his balanced roster.

The Celtics went just 1 of 12 from 3-point range in scoring just 31 first-half points. Sparkplug guard Isaiah Thomas, who normally ignites his team coming off the bench, was 1 of 9 from the floor and had just three points -- as the Spurs' bench dominated its Boston counterpart, to the tune of 23-5. The Boston subs played better in the second half.

Guards Avery Bradley, who suffered a right hand injury in the final minute, and Smart led the Celtics with 18 and 17 points, respectively, while sixth man Thomas scored 15 points but was just 4 of 18 from the floor.

Said Thomas: "We fought. We fought hard. We gave it all we had. We didn't give up, and that's a good sign for this team. We just couldn't hit shots, whether it was layups, open threes."

NOTES: The Spurs have held the Celtics under 100 points in 31 of the last 35 meetings between the teams and Sunday snapped a streak of six straight double-figure wins for San Antonio over Boston. ... San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said before the game he has one picture in his office: of Celtics great John Havlicek. "There's a chair, there's a table, and there's a lamp. There's one picture on the wall. It's been there for the last 18, 20 years," he said before the game. "It's of John Havlicek. So I do think about the legacy here." Asked why Havlicek was the anointed Celtic, Popovich said, "If you can't figure it out yourself, I can't help you." ... Celtics coach Brad Stevens, asked if he watched Tim Duncan play growing up, said, "Tim Duncan is my age." ... Popovich on what he did in the recruiting of free agent F LaMarcus Aldrige: "I spoke. I begged. I got on my knees. I offered my children." ... The Spurs are in New York to play the Knicks on Monday night, while the Celtics visit Indiana on Wednesday night.