BSJ Game Report: Celtics 108, Pacers 98 -- Second half domination taken at BSJ Headquarters (Celtics)

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Celtics

BSJ Game Report: Celtics 108, Pacers 98 -- Second half domination

By Brian Robb

Nov 25, 2017 • 10:29 pm

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Everything you need to know about the Celtics 108-98 win over the Pacers in quickie form.

HEADLINES

Second-half turnaround: After trailing by as many as 13 points in the first half -- thanks to a hot Pacers offense -- the Celtics made a furious rally in the third quarter. The visitors outscored the Pacers by 21 points in the frame behind a balanced offensive attack led by Al Horford (12 points). The C’s built a double-digit lead with the tremendous stretch and used the momentum to close the Pacers out comfortably in the fourth quarter.

The shorthanded bench comes up big: Without the services of Jaylen Brown (personal) and Marcus Morris (knee), the Celtics needed additional sources of offense to get by on Saturday night. They found those in the form of their usual bench backcourt of Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart. The duo combined to score 32 points on 14-of-17 shooting from the field.

TURNING POINT

The Celtics turned the game around with arguably their best 12 minutes of the year in the third quarter, outscoring the Pacers 37-16 in the frame while shooting a scorching 78 percent from the field. Indiana had shot 56 percent in the first half, but was limited to 33 percent shooting in the quarter, as the Celtics turned an 11-point halftime deficit into a ten-point lead.

TWO UP

Horford: The big man had scored under 10 points in four-straight games, but he broke out of his shell in a major way when the shorthanded Celtics needed it most. Horford scored 12 of his 21 points in the third quarter and attempted 15 field goals on the night, his second highest total of the year.   

Rozier: The third-year guard broke out of his slump in a major way this weekend. After going 6-of-29 in his last five games prior to Friday night, he scored 40 total points in Boston’s last two wins on 75 percent shooting from the field.   

ONE DOWN

Abdel Nader: This is probably just picking on a guy who isn’t getting much playing time as is, but it’s hard to find anything that the rookie swingman does well right now at an NBA-level. He was a minus-10 in 10 minutes off the bench.

TOP PLAY




TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER


The Celtics just have a thing for comebacks:
In just 21 games, the Celtics have already managed to rally from double-digit deficits for wins in six games thus far. It’s getting to a point where it doesn’t matter how big the deficit is in any particular matchup, the C’s will make a run at it at some point. That’s a credit to Brad Stevens and this team’s mindset as a whole.


The bench isn’t afraid of the moment:
The stars shined tonight, but Aron Baynes, Rozier, Semi Ojeleye, Daniel Theis and Smart all had big plays at some point throughout the second half. The fact that those guys can step up on the road when this group is shorthanded has to give Stevens confidence about what this group is capable of down the road.  
 

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