Everything you need to know about the Celtics 99-91 win over the Pacers to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven first round series with BSJ insight and analysis.
HEADLINES
Fourth quarter saves Celtics: The Celtics were in grave danger of losing homecourt advantage in the best-of-seven series after the Pacers built a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter against a Celtics offense that was struggling to score (just 16 third-quarter points). The hosts took command though with one of their best defensive stretches of the year, opening the frame with an 18-3 run which included a seven-minute scoring drought by the visitors to pull their way back into the game. After a back-and-forth battle at the beginning of crunch time in the midst of a one possession, the Celtics seized control yet again in the final two minutes, closing out the win with a 10-0 run behind the hot shooting of Kyrie Irving (game-high 37 points) and playmaking from Jayson Tatum (10 of 26 points in the fourth quarter) and Jaylen Brown (go-ahead assist). The Pacers managed just 23 percent shooting in the final quarter as Boston used a 31-12 quarter to turn the tide and give themselves a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-seven battle.
Kyrie carries the offense: Al Horford did not look like himself for most of the night on the offensive end after dealing with an illness during the day, which limited his scoring to a season-low four points. Without his offense, Irving took his offense to another level to keep the Celtics in the game against a gritty Pacers defense, posting a game-high 37 points on 15-of-26 shooting from the field and 6-of-10 from 3-point range. He also dished out a team-high seven assists and scored nine of his 37 points in the fourth quarter. Those contributions combined with another highly efficient performance from Tatum (26 points, 11-of-20 FG, 3-of-6 3pt range) enabled the Celtics to outlast a pesky Pacers squad that outplayed the hosts for the better part of the first three quarters.
TURNING POINT
Horford blocked Bojan Bogdanovic on a drive with 58 seconds remaining under the basket with the Pacers nursing a 91-89 lead. Brown corralled the loose ball and immediately pushed the ball up the floor, driving it straight to the hoop as multiple Pacer defenders collapsed on him. He kicked the ball out to Tatum for a wide open corner 3, which ended up being the game-winning basket for Boston, jumpstarting the game-closing 10-0 run.
Jaylen Brown's interaction w/ Brad Stevens after this huge kick-out to Tatum: "He was just smiling, said it was a hell of a play. I said to him, 'You probably thought I was going to lay it up, didn’t you?' He laughed and said, 'Nah, I knew you were going to make the right play.'" pic.twitter.com/GAoLQufjGO
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) April 18, 2019
TWO UP
Kyrie Irving: The All-Star became the first Celtic player to score 30-plus points and make at least six 3-pointers in a playoff game since Paul Pierce in April 2011. He finished with a game-high 37 points on 57.7 percent shooting and is now averaging 28.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists in two playoff games. He's shooting 48 percent from the field over that stretch.
Jayson Tatum: The 21-year-old had the second-highest scoring playoff game in his career, finishing just two points short of his postseason high (28, Game 1 vs. Sixers in ECSF). He is averaging 20.5 points per game this postseason while shooting a scorching hot 54.8 percent from the field and 6-of-9 from 3-point range.
TWO DOWN
Marcus Morris: The veteran forward came back to earth after his hot-shooting Game 1, missing all eight of his field goal attempts in 21 minutes. He did not play the final 11 minutes of the game after being pulled early in the fourth quarter by Stevens.
Third-quarter offense: The Celtics managed to score just 16 points in the third quarter despite Irving playing the entire 12 minutes and posting 10 points of his own. The rest of his teammates combined to shoot just 3-of-12 from the field while turning the ball over five times in the frame and posting zero free throw attempts. Boston was unable to even draw a foul in the entire quarter against a pesky Pacers defense.
TOP PLAY
Jaylen Brown's interaction w/ Brad Stevens after this huge kick-out to Tatum: "He was just smiling, said it was a hell of a play. I said to him, 'You probably thought I was going to lay it up, didn’t you?' He laughed and said, 'Nah, I knew you were going to make the right play.'" pic.twitter.com/GAoLQufjGO
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) April 18, 2019
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Terry Rozier changed the game with his defense: Without Marcus Smart in the lineup, the Celtics have had to lean far more on the guard for his defense than at any point during the regular season and he was up to the task tonight. Rozier was everywhere in the fourth quarter, chipping in on the glass, dishing out assists and most importantly making life tough for Darren Collison, Cory Joseph and the Pacers offense, which went through a seven-minute scoring slump with him on the floor. He finished with a game-high plus-19 and played with the type of energy that Stevens and his staff have seen for him for the past few postseasons. With Boston's bigs struggling to stick with the faster Pacers bigs, Stevens main option was staying small for most of the quarter with Rozier and Irving in the backcourt. Rozier did not play in the final three minutes but his defense before that gave the Celtics a chance to win this game.
A great night for the Celtics future: While it's unclear right now just how deep will be able to go this postseason, this group will be able to hang their hats on this game as one example of when everything came together. The Pacers played terrific basketball for the better part of three quarters, leaving the C's with a thin margin of error. With Indiana focusing in on slowing Irving down the stretch, it was Tatum and Brown's opportunity to steal the show and they did just that by putting together one of the best sequences of their career in the closing minutes of this one. From Brown's rebounding (six in the fourth quarter) to his transition vision (Stevens called it one of the best plays of his career) to Tatum's clutchness (10 points in the fourth quarter), the game of both youngsters rose to another level when the lights were brightest again. They were ready for the moment with the entire NBA watching and that is the type of play that makes the Celtics future even brighter, whether or not both of them are playing at the Garden or elsewhere next year.