Final: Celtics 84, Pacers 74 -- C's ride defense to Game 1 win

The Celtics trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half before activating some of the best defense this team has played all year long, opening up the second half on a 22-3 run and outscoring the Pacers 26-8 in the game-deciding third quarter on their way to a 84-74 win. It was the fewest points scored and allowed by the Celtics all year long, one of the few times this team has used defense all year long to ride their way to a win. Marcus Morris and Kyrie Irving tied for a game-high 20 points to help the Celtics overcome 20 turnovers and 36 percent shooting from the field. 

The Pacers shot just 2-of-19 in the third quarter on their way to a 29-point second half output as they could find no offense in any aspect of the game in the second half after leading 45-38 at halftime. Cory Joseph had a team-high 14 points off the bench for Indiana but Bojan Bogdanovic (12 points) was the only other Pacer who scored in double digits as the Pacers dropped their third straight game in Boston this year.

Al Horford chipped in with a double-double 10 points and 11 rebounds while Jayson Tatum added 15 points in what was an ugly offensive performance for Boston for most of the night. The C's will be back at the Garden on Wednesday night, going for a 2-0 series lead.

Third Quarter Notes

• The Celtics defense found another gear in the third quarter with a superb defensive performance.


• The Pacers shot just 2-of-19 in the frame, missing plenty of open looks but also failing to get any quality looks down low against frontline of Baynes/Horford


• C's offense slowly started to find a rhythm against the Indy defense, chipping away with points in transition off turnovers and some timely scores in the post from Horford.


• Irving came alive in the frame as well with eight points and three assists, doubling his outback in both of those categories from the first half.


• The run got as high as 24-3 at one point finishing at 26-8 as the Pacers road woes doomed them yet again.

• Celtics start the quarter with Horford/Irving resting together and the Pacers immediately respond with a 9-2 run with their all bench unit, same issue we have seen all year from C's with their lineups.


• Rozier with a tough few minutes, with a few wild shots that left Boston's offense searching for consistency.


• C's can't hit anything in the opening quarter and a half, dropping down to 31 percent from the field.


• Pacers ball movement continues to be superb (13 assists on 16 made field goals)


• Horford and Irving got back into the game with nine minutes left in the quarter but neither helped sustain the offense. Horford missed three wide open 3s to score just two points in the first half, while Irving relied on mostly tough shot selection to go 3-of-10.


• Celtics end up going through Marcus Morris for a lot of their offense and that's a dicey proposition. He scored just three points in the second quarter but has a game-high 15 points.


• C's turnovers (10) combined with their poor shooting (32 percent) makes them very lucky to be down by just seven points before the break. C's have been relatively scrappy on defense and that has saved them along with some tough shooting from 3 for the Pacers.

• Celtics offense comes up a bit sloppy with four turnovers in the first four minutes.


• Irving with a tough shot and Horford with a nice transition take on the break, but other open looks have not gone down from 3 (0-of-3)


• Wesley Matthews has knocked down a couple open looks early in transition and the team has assisted on all five of their field goals early


• Baynes starting on Young while Tatum splitting time with Kyrie on Collison.


• Marcus Morris with seven quick points off the bench as with a corner 3 and a strong pull up in the lane.


• Five turnovers in six minutes for the Celtics who average just 12.8 per game.


• Morris scored 12 of first 20 points for C’s who have fought back from nine-point deficit to tie the game after one.


• C’s out rebounding Pacers 12-6 after first quarter, showing some grit down low against the Pacers bigs.


• Matthews with eight points for Pacers, but no one else has more than four. Sluggish offensive start for both teams.