Everything you need to know about the Celtics beating the Pacers 84-74 with BSJ insight and analysis
Box Score
HEADLINES
Celtics defense takes over in second half: After trailing by as many as 11 points in the first half, the Celtics looked to be on the verge of being the third straight Eastern Conference favorite to be upset in Game 1. The tide turn in the third quarter, however, as the hosts limited Indiana to just eight points in the third quarter and 21 total points in the second half on their way to a convincing 84-74 victory. Indiana's total marked the lowest scoring output by a Celtics opponent in the playoffs since Orlando scored 71 points in May 2010. The Pacers shot just 9 of 38 in the second half and 1 of 14 from 3-point range as Boston erased a seven-point halftime deficit and sealed a win by the midpoint of the fourth quarter. It was an encouraging effort with Jaylen Brown filling in for Marcus Smart in the starting five. Only two Pacers managed to crack double digits (Cory Joseph, Bojan Bogdanovic) in the defeat.
Celtics finds a way to win in an ugly offensive performance: While the Pacers were having trouble scoring the ball in the second half, life for the Celtics was not much easier for the better part of fourth quarters. The C’s scored the fewest points in a game in 2018-19 and had the second-most turnovers (20) in a game all year as they shot a season-low 36.4 percent from the field.
“It was hard, it wasn’t pretty, things went against us,” Brad Stevens said. “Even a couple of bounces went against us in the first half when they picked it up and hit the end of shot clock plays or put-back. You gotta stay together and you gotta grind it out. So there will be games where we hit a lot of shots and it will make us look better than we played. Today we played a little bit better than we looked, and we just have be a little bit better at owning our space."
Kyrie Irving and Marcus Morris both chipped in with a game-high 20 points, while Al Horford added a double-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists.
TURNING POINT
After a sluggish start to the third quarter on the offensive end, the Celtics started looking towards the hoop for offense and found some easy looks. A few Al Horford postups helped to key an 11-0 to start the period over the first five minutes, setting the tone for a game-changing 26-8 period during which the hosts played some of their best basketball of the year.
TWO UP
Marcus Morris: The veteran forward has been stuck in a slump for much of the past two months, but he put the Celtics offense on his back in the first quarter, scoring 12 of Boston’s first 20 points, including a pair of hits from 3-point range. He led the team with 15 points in the first half, one of the few sources of offense in Boston 38 points first half. He finished with a team-high 20 points in 29 minutes.
Third-quarter defense: The Celtics starting five absolutely locked down Indiana in the third period, holding them scoreless for the first five minutes of the frame on their way to a 2-of-19 shooting performance in the period. They outscored the visitors 26-8 in the quarter
TWO DOWN
Celtics' first-half offense: Boston scored just 38 points in the first half, the fewest points they have had before intermission since a November 11th loss in Portland (37). They shot just 32.5 percent before the break and turned the ball over 10 times, which was just two miscues shy of their season average.
Terry Rozier’s shot selection: Boston’s offense skidded to a halt in the first half with him manning the point guard spot as the Pacers second unit went on a 9-2 run with him on the floor. He took a couple of wild shots and was lucky to get bailed out by a foul call on a third drive to the basket. It’s clear he wants to make an impression on this series and that’s not necessarily a good thing for the C’s. He was 1-of-6 in just 18 minutes with his only make being a buzzer beater 3.
TOP PLAY
Gordon Hayward’s reaction on this one makes it even more entertaining
TERRY DOES IT AGAIN! ??? pic.twitter.com/lL6tsUsC8m
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 14, 2019
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
The Celtics' defense was good, but not as good as the numbers indicate: The Celtics looked like a different team in the second half after limiting the Pacers to just 10 percent shooting in the third quarter. However, that woeful performance was just as reflective of a subpar Pacers offense than what the Celtics were doing. Nearly everyone on the Pacers roster was missing wide open jump shots at some point in the frame and that’s been par for the course for this group in the second half of the regular season (10 straight road losses). The Celtics need to play with this type of sustained defensive effort every night but they got away with a lot of their mistakes in the second half of this game. They won’t be as lucky when this series goes back to Indiana.
The Celtics might miss Marcus Smart’s distribution skills as much as his defense: The Pacers' grittiness on the defensive end was on display for much of the afternoon, as they made life tough for Boston around the basket. Irving had trouble getting high-quality shots in the first half while Brown and Gordon Hayward were forced into a lot of midrange looks. The Celtics offense really hit the skids at times with Irving and Horford on the bench, since those are instances when an extra creator in the pick-and-roll (Marcus Smart) can help initiate offense for others. Without him, a lot of the pressure fell on Rozier and Hayward in Game 1 and they were up to the task for most of the win. Stevens is going to have to get creative for the rest of this series to make sure Boston’s offense doesn’t get bogged down without their stars in the game.