BOSTON -- The Celtics put together another memorable comeback in the second half, but they couldn't finish the job in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. Victor Oladipo scored a game-high 35 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, spoiling a 26-point rally by the hosts to give the Indiana Pacers a 97-91 victory.
Boston shot a dismal 29 percent in the first half, including 1-of-11 from 3-point range, which allowed the Pacers to build a 21-point halftime lead. Kyrie Irving (21 points) and Jaylen Brown (16 points) led a dramatic charge in the third quarter (Boston outscored Indiana 34-17) and eventually to a one-point lead on several occasions in the fourth quarter. However, Boston's offense dried up late (19 fourth quarter points) and they couldn't get enough stops against Oladipo down the stretch to pull off their fourth straight home win.
With the defeat, the Celtics only lead the Raptors by a half game for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
GAME: No. 56 of 82:
WHO: Celtics (40-16) vs. Pacers (30-25)
WHEN: 7:30 EST
WHERE: TD Garden
RADIO: 98.5 the Sports Hub
TV: NBC Sports Boston
Projected starters
Celtics
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Jaylen Brown
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Al Horford
C: Aron Baynes
Inactive: Marcus Smart (hand), and Shane Larkin (knee) are out.
Pacers
PG: Cory Joseph
SG: Victor Oladipo
F: Bojan Bogdanovic
F: Thaddeus Young
C: Myles Turner
Third Quarter Notes
- One of the most impressive things about the Celtics this year has been the efficiency of their comebacks and that trend continued in the third quarter as they outscored Indy 34-17 with a dominant effort on both ends.
- Offensively, Jaylen Brown and Kyrie Irving combined to score 18 points, showing an aggressiveness around the basket that was not present in the first half.
- The sense of urgency was everywhere on defense as well. The Pacers were made uncomfortable under the basket and on jump shots and they started missing the shots they were making early.
- Aron Baynes provided a strong interior presence as well.
- The Celtics came out of the gate looking like a team who played a tough overtime game in another city last night. The starters ran the offense with little success as no one on the roster scored more than six points other than Jayson Tatum.
- The starting backcourt combined for just two points on 1-of-5 shooting, while Al Horford stayed relatively uninvolved in the offense.
- Boston shot a collective 6-of-27 overall from the field as the bench unit fared no better after a slow start, going a collective 0-of-10 from the field to start the game.
- Semi Ojeleye got a brief look at shooting guard early for Jaylen Brown (foul trouble) but did not make an impact.
- On the flip side of the court, the Pacers were well rested and attacked aggressively against a lethargic Celtics offense. They shot over 50 percent in the first quarter behind some hot shooting from their stars (Oladipo and Turner). Even when they did miss, the Pacers grabbed offensive rebounds (40 percent offensive rebound rate).
- The Pacers got at least 3-4 wide open fast break baskets off of loose ballhandling by the Celtics. Outside of Jayson Tatum (11 points) no cracked double digits in the first half.
- Another nightmare first half from Marcus Morris, who continues to fire at will (team-high eight shots) and is regularly off target (25 percent).
- C's didn't make a 3-pointer until two minute mark in half. 1-of-11 overall from deep.
- Probably the worst two-way half of the season. Tired legs provide some explanation but this was an embarrassing effort for much of the first 24 minutes.
- Marcus Smart will be re-evaluated by team doctors tonight and is expected to return after the All-Star Break still as he heals his hand lacerations.
- The Celtics are 2-0 against the Pacers this year, with both wins coming at the Conseco Fieldhouse.
- Brad Stevens is eager to integrate Greg Monroe more into the lineup after a strong debut last night in Washington. "I thought that, obviously, played a little bit more in the first stint than I would have thought going into the game," Stevens explained. "I thought he did a pretty good job. We tried to give him a crash course on what we’re trying to do defensively, with a couple of offensive actions to look for when he’s in. Then just play to his strengths. The one thing that, beyond just his post scoring and ability in that regard that we really want to take advantage of, is his passing. We played him at the elbow some, we tried to do some things out of the post with him kinda facilitating from there, kinda like we try to do with Al. I thought he did a good job. I was thinking about it, it’d be hard to show up your first meeting is right before the game and, hey by the way, go play 20 minutes."
- Stevens continues to be pleased with the lack of moves the Celtics made yesterday: "I think more so from the standpoint we have a good locker room, we have guys that pull for one another," Stevens said. "When things haven’t gone well, guys have rallied together. When things have gone well, we’ve just moved on. And we need that. But I said yesterday, we have to improved internally because I think there’s no question the level we’re playing at right now is fine but it’s not good enough to get to where we want to ultimately go.”