Final: Pacers 99, Celtics 97

Terry Rozier missed a potential game-tying jumper from the right wing as time expired, which allowed the Pacers to escape with a 99-97 win over the shorthanded Celtics on Sunday night.

Despite blowing a 10-point halftime lead in the defeat, the bigger concern for Boston has to be the status of Kyrie Irving. The All-Star point guard did not return to the game after halftime due to recurring soreness in his left knee. He missed last week's game in Chicago with the ailment and underwent surgery on the same knee in 2015. 

Without Irving, Jaylen Brown (concussion) and Al Horford (illness), the Celtics struggled mightily on the offensive end for much of the second half. Big games from Marcus Smart (20 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists) and Jayson Tatum (19 points) kept the C's close in the second half after the Pacers appeared poised to run away with the game. However, big baskets from Victor Oladipo (game-high 29 points) and Myles Turner ( 19 points) ensured the Pacers escaped with the win despite some miscues down the stretch.

GAME: No. 67 of 82
WHO: Celtics (46-20) vs. Pacers (38-28)
WHEN:  7:30 EST
WHERE:  TD Garden
RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub
TV: NBC Sports Boston
BOX SCORE: NBA.COM

Projected Starting Lineups:

Celtics
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Marcus Smart
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Marcus Morris
C: Aron Baynes

Pacers
PG: Cory Joseph
SG: Victor Oladipo
SF: Bojan Bogdanovic
PF: Thaddeus Young
C: Myles Turner 

Third Quarter Notes

• No sign of Kyrie Irving on the bench to start second half. Terry Rozier started in his place. Irving missed some time last week due to sore knee so that remains a concern surely. He was eventually ruled out of game with due to same sore left knee later in the third.


• Marcus Smart came up wincing in pain early in third quarter after diving for a loose ball. He appeared to jam his thumb but remained in the game.


• Pacers took advantage of C's two missing All-Stars by jumping out to 15-7 run to start half.


• Brad Stevens went to Abdel Nader and Greg Monroe early in the half to look for a spark on both ends and stagger their defense with Aron Baynes on the bench unit.


• Monroe really couldn't hang with the Pacers starters from a defensive standpoint as Oladipo and Turner really got into their grooves with him as the lst line of defense.


• Pacers really started to clamp down defensively as well with Irving's absence a lack of shooters on the perimeter. They limited the C's to just 20 third quarter points.

• This contest turned into a bit of a rock fight with both bench units in the game in the early portion of second quarter. Outside of a couple jumpers by Jayson Tatum, C's really couldn't get anything going with the two-center look against the Pacers D.


• The ball kept getting force fed to Monroe in the post but he was on the tough end of a few no calls which produced a 1-of-4 start for the field from him.


• Some nice defense by Shane Larkin to contain Darren Collison and slowing down players like Bojan Bogdanovic in switches.


• With the offense struggling, Stevens turned back to his starters (plus Rozier) quickly to get back to some stronger defense. That helped them produce a 8-0 run midway throguh the frame to push their lead back up to nine.


• Swarming defense by the Pacers led to plenty of shot opportunities for the C's supporting cast as Morris and Baynes tied for most field goal attempts (eight) in the first half.


• Celtics starting lineup really locked down Indiana defensively in the final 7:51 of first half, holding the high powered Pacers offense to just six points. Oladipo and Turner shot a combined 33 percent from the field 3-of-9).

• Celtics couldn't buy a bucket the last time they played the Pacers at the Garden last month. That has not been the case early tonight. They opened the game shooting 64 percent from field in first eight minutes, including 4-of-6 from downtown.


• Marcus Smart has been sensational stuffing the box score in his spot start for Jaylen Brown, posting 6 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in that span, including a pair of makes from downtown.


• Four first quarter turnovers for Celtics as Pacers have done a nice job jumping passing lanes early.


• Smart has done a nice job containing Oladipo who has not been able to get anything going towards the hoop (1-of-5 shooting in first 10 minutes).


• With Horford and Brown out, Stevens is trending towards some double big looks in the frontcourt with Baynes/Theis and Theis/Monroe seeing some time together on the floor.


• All five Celtics starters scored within the first nine minutes of game.


• The offensive momentum was lost for Boston in the final three minutes of frame (five straight missed shots) with the bench unit going with a Larkin/Rozier/Tatum/Theis/Monroe. Not enough ball movement and Tatum wasn't getting many looks. Pacers closed frame on a 8-3 run.

• Al Horford (illness) was a late scratch after coming down with the flu over the last 24 hours. Marcus Morris will start in his place.


• The Pacers remain as one of the most surprising teams in the Eastern Conference as we approach the final month of the regular season. They are just a half-game behind Cleveland for the No. 3 seed in the East and have played the Celtics tight in two of three matchups this year. "They run more high pick-and-roll than anyone else in the league, from a number of times a game standpoint," Brad Stevens explained. "Their bigs are great in the seams and you have to pay a lot of attention to those guards coming off – specifically Oladipo. They can run a bunch of different actions because they’re very skilled, and at the end of the day they play the right way. I have a lot of respect for ‘em."


• Jaylen Brown will miss Sunday's game due to the concussion suffered in Thursday's win over the Wolves. He'll be sidelined until he passes the league's concussion protocol, but Brad Stevens was hesitant to commit to a replacement starter in his absence on Saturday. The C's bench unit has played fantastic together since the All-Star break and Stevens is hesitant about breaking up that chemistry.  "We'll look at Shane, Smart, Terry, Semi, Nader, any of those guys could start,' Stevens said. You're not only worried about the first five minutes of each half. It's important, it's really important, but at the end of the day, we'll weigh starting Smart or Terry or keeping our bench unit together." The size of Oladipo tonight (6-foot-4) at the two spot makes a bigger guard (Smart, Ojeleye) a likely option.


•  The Celtics have gone 6-1 since the All-Star break and have the best offense in the league over that stretch, raising their season numbers to 15th overall in offensive efficiency. "Brad’s doing a great job of figuring out what lineups work," Kyrie Irving explained. "We see something very special in our second unit, they’ve been playing extremely well, changing the game, offensively and defensively. Just our pace, probably our focus to getting great shots not just good shots. So it’s just maturing over time, understanding where guys want to be and where we have to be in order for our offense to run fairly smoothly."


• Pacers have added reserve power forward Trevor Booker to their rotation after he was waived by the Sixers last week. He's taken minutes from Al Jefferson at the reserve center spot and should provide a good matchup for Greg Monroe defensively since he has limited shooting range from the perimeter.