BOSTON — To hear coach Gregg Popovich tell it, he helped recruit LaMarcus Aldridge to the Spurs by good old-fashioned groveling.

“I begged,” Popovich said. “I got on my knees. I offered my children. Things like that.”

When it came time for the Spurs to make a run at the top free agent on the market last July, Popovich in fact did none of those things.

He signaled his interest in another way: By exiting the wine cellar long enough to board an airplane and fly to Los Angeles to meet with the four-time All-Star — twice.

In the second half of the Spurs’ 95-87 victory at Boston’s TD Garden on Sunday, Popovich at last got his payoff in a game that counted.

“LaMarcus saved our ass,” Popovich said.

Aldridge finished with 24 points, 14 rebounds and five assists — all highs for his three-game Spurs career.

It was the how of Aldridge got his points, and the when, that was most significant.

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With Boston clinging close in the fourth quarter, having carved a 15-point deficit to five, Aldridge scored three consecutive jumpers off plays designed for him.

The third, a long, fluid turnaround over Jared Sullinger was one guard Danny Green estimates Aldridge buried “probably 100 times” against the Spurs during his Portland days.

“It felt more natural,” Aldridge said. “I felt more like myself.”

Aldridge’s late flurry — along with Kawhi Leonard’s 19 points — helped the Spurs lock down the 541st victory for Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili together.

That snapped a tie with Boston’s Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish for the most wins all-time as a threesome.

It’s an impressive accomplishment, Popovich acknowledged, but not one with much relevance to the story of the 2015-16 Spurs.

“It’s just a historical fact,” Popovich said. “Like Christopher Columbus didn’t discover America in 1492.”

As expected, Aldridge has spent the early stages of his Spurs’ tenure trying to rediscover himself.

There has been some push and pull — mostly, Aldridge admits, within the confines of his own skull — about trying to fit the offensive game that served him well in Portland with the good-to-great offense the Spurs prefer.

“Being himself and fitting in with this team, I don’t think it’s contradictory,” said forward Boris Diaw, who had 10 points off the bench. “We want to use what he brings to the table.”

The desire to fit in has created a bit of an early-season identity crisis for Aldridge, who was 9 of 34 over the first two games and was 2 of 7 at halftime Sunday.

Teammates had been urging Aldridge to shoot more. Popovich had counseled him to get out of his own head and “just play basketball.”

Aldridge talked of his internal battle in terms that seem almost existential.

“Trying to make myself be myself,” Aldridge said.

With that as the aim, Popovich gave Aldridge a push coming out of the halftime locker room by basically becoming Terry Stotts.

Early in the third quarter, the Spurs fed Aldridge in a way he hasn’t been since his last game in Portland.

On the first play, with the Spurs ahead 44-31 after what was an ugly first half for both teams, Duncan hit Aldridge with a lob for a layup off a called play.

“We wanted to get him the ball and make him feel comfortable,” Popovich said.

That would pay dividends later as the game tightened.

Marcus Smart had just swished a floater to pull Boston within 77-72, and the crowd at TD Garden — dormant for much of the afternoon — had roared to life.

Popovich called timeout. Then he called Aldridge’s number.

The play Popovich dialed up netted Aldridge a 15-footer from the baseline.

On the next trip, Aldridge hit a post-up jumper over Sullinger. On the next, it was a nine-footer off a post-up.

After a rough start, Aldridge finished 8 of 18.

“It’s a good sign, him knocking down shots and taking big shots and making them,” Green said.

The Spurs’ next basket came two possessions later, when Aldridge drove and dished to an open Leonard in the corner for a 3-pointer.

In the span of 1:51, in the fourth quarter of his third game, Aldridge offered a glimpse at the Holy Grail, at what happens when his way of playing melds with the Spurs’ way.

“Today,” Aldridge said, “I just played basketball.”

And that, in essence, is what Popovich twice flew to L.A. last summer in order to obtain.