Everything you need to know about the Celtics beating the Pacers 114-112 with BSJ insight and analysis
Box Score
HEADLINES
Kyrie hits the game-winner in a thriller: The first of many looming battles between the Celtics and Pacers over the next few weeks started with a memorable finish on Friday night as Kyrie Irving capped off his game-high 30 points with a game-winning layup with 0.5 seconds remaining to help the hosts secure the 114-112 win. Irving led six different players in double figures for Boston in the back and forth affair, which featured six lead changes after the Celtics blew a 13-point lead. Boston had a hot offense for much of the night (51 percent shooting, 48 percent from 3), but they leaned on their defense late by holding the Pacers to just 21 points in the fourth quarter. Bojan Bogdanovic had a game-high 27 points for the visitors, who have now dropped 10 straight games on the road.
Celtics clinch tiebreaker with Indy: The win gives Boston a 2-1 edge in the season series and pulled the C's into a tie with the Pacers for the No. 4 spot in the Eastern Conference. Even though there is one more game looming on Friday night in Indiana between the two squads, the Celtics secured the tiebreaker with Friday's win thanks to a guaranteed advantage in the second tiebreaker (conference record). Even though the two teams are tied right now in the standings, Boston essentially holds a half-game lead with six games to play. That edge could very well come in handy as both squads have tough schedules down the stretch.
Stevens leans heavily on his bigs: One game after making the switch to an Al Horford/Aron Baynes frontline in the starting five, the head coach turned the duo early and often on Friday night as they chalked up more minutes together than any game all season. Horford was terrific with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Aron Baynes played a season-high 33 minutes and posted his first double-double of the year with 13 points and 13 rebounds. For the first time all year, either Baynes or Horford was on the floor the entire game and that helped limit the Pacers from taking the game over with their physicality.
TURNING POINT
After turning the ball over with 35 seconds remaining in a tie game (112-112), the Celtics managed to recover enough in transition to prevent an easy scoring opportunity for the Pacers, which forced Indiana to call a timeout. Boston got the stop after the timeout, opening the door for Irving’s game-winner with the shot clock off in the final 10 seconds of the game.
TWO UP
Aron Baynes: The big man put up a number of season-highs in his longest stint of the season. He posted his first double-double of the year with 13 points and 13 rebounds and that rebounding mark also stood out as his season-high. His 33 minutes played also topped his season-high by eight minutes (set on Tuesday in Cleveland)
Kyrie Irving: The All-Star had an uneven crunch time but came up big when the team needed him most with the game-winner. He finished with 30 points on 11-of-22 shooting and has now crossed the 30-point threshold in six of his last seven games.
TWO DOWN
Marcus Morris: The veteran forward missed a number of open looks from downtown (1-of-5) and was a team-worst minus-16 in 20 minutes. His minutes are trending down and that’s probably a good thing for this team until he gets hot from distance again.
Containing Bojan Bogdanovic: The top scorer for the Pacers caused trouble for the Celtics all night on the perimeter with his craftiness and even drew a couple fouls on jump shots. With 27 points on 8-of-13 shooting, the C’s are going to have to cut down on his efficiency to slow down a Pacers offense that showed a lot more firepower than expected in a tough road spot.
TOP PLAY
Marcus Smart and winning plays. Name a better duo. pic.twitter.com/7efLRVYiak
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 30, 2019
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
The Celtics should have a field day against the Pacers backcourt on the offensive end: Tyreke Evans is not much of a defender and Wesley Matthews is far past his prime, so the Celtics should be able to go right at the Pacers guards in a seven-game series, both in the post and perimeter with their guards to ensure themselves good looks. With Jaylen Brown and Kyrie Irving pushing the ball in transition, there should be easy opportunities available all series long while piling up some pressure on the Pacers interior big men.
The Pacers are not going to go down easy in the first round: They surprised everyone in the first round last year by taking the Cavs to seven games in the 4/5 matchup and a similar fate seems to await Boston this time around in the same matchup. Their bigs up front just keep coming at the rim, the entire team plays smart and disciplined and they have enough shooting all across the floor to keep them in games. Given the amount of effort Nate McMillan has them playing with on a nightly basis, the Celtics can’t afford the hiccups that they’ve been prone to all year long. If they get out of the first round, they are going to have to earn it and the Pacers made that clear on Friday night.
