Everything you need to know about the Celtics' 108-107 loss to the Pacers with BSJ insight and analysis
Box Score
Jayson Tatum misses game-winner as time expires: Jayson Tatum missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer as time expired on Sunday night as the Celtics squandered a one-point lead in the final 10 seconds in a 108-107 loss to the Pacers. Tatum had a team-high 25 points and 11 rebounds but settled for a deep 3 late in a one-point game that did not fall, unlike his game-winner against the Bucks on opening night.
Domantas Sabonis had a team-high 25 points for the Pacers in the win, including a game-winner in the final 10 seconds on Rob Williams who was surprisingly in the game thanks to a strong performance (12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocks). However, a blown defensive coverage with 10 seconds remaining on an inbounds to Sabonis allowed the Pacers big man to score the game-winner on an open layup.
NO ANSWERS FOR @DSABONIS11 ?
Game-winning bucket ✅ pic.twitter.com/GNJJVfGaMq
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) December 28, 2020
Jaylen Brown added 18 points and Payton Pritchard started off the bench with 13 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting as the C’s fell to 1-2 on the season. Boston gets a rematch with the Pacers on Tuesday night against a team that is an undefeated 3-0 on the year.
Defensive issues loom large again: The Celtics tightened things up in the first and fourth quarter but they couldn’t stop a soul in the middle two frames, allowing the hosts to score 69 points despite missing lead guard Victor Oladipo (rest). Six different Pacers scored in double figures as Boston’s undermanned bench struggled to stop the Pacers' firepower from all areas of the floor over large sections of the game. The C’s finish the night as the fifth-worst defense in the NBA through three games and the road gets no easier for this group with a rematch looming on Tuesday in Indy with Oladipo back in uniform.
Aaron Nesmith still absent: The 14th overall pick logged his second DNP-CD of his career over three games after getting some spot minutes against the Nets in the second half.
TURNING POINT
The Celtics were on the verge of rallying from a 3-point deficit in the final 24 seconds after a Rob Williams steal led to a go-ahead layup by Marcus Smart. However, on the ensuing possession, Williams blew a defensive coverage on Sabonis, allowing an easy look for Sabonis at the rim with eight seconds remaining, a make that ended up being the game-winner.
TWO UP
Jayson Tatum in the second quarter: The All-Star scored 14 of his 16 first-half points in the second quarter, carrying an offensively-challenged second unit for Boston with his play creation for himself and others. He also tallied his first two free throws of the season, attempting 59 shots before earning a trip to the charity stripe.
Payton Pritchard: With the Pacers using some box-and-1 zone defense to try to contain Tatum, the Celtics rookie sharpshooter was able to make Indy pay all night, knocking down all five of his jump shots, including three from beyond the arc.
TWO DOWN
Turnovers: The Celtics only led by six at halftime despite shooting 61 percent from the half due to piling up 11 turnovers in the first half on a number of unforced errors. They finished with 18 on the night, with the Pacers scoring 25 points off those miscues, a big factor in preventing the C’s from getting the win despite shooting 50 percent from the field.
Jeff Teague: A second straight offensive dud from the veteran point guard who did manage to get to the free-throw line 10 times but missed all six of his field-goal attempts, including a few easy looks.
TOP PLAY
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 28, 2020
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
The Celtics defensive wing bench options remain a big problem: The Celtics got worked in the middle two quarters this game by a good Pacers team that was also missing one of their best players in Victor Oladipo. However, while the defensive effort was troubling at times, the bigger problem came down to personnel. Brad Stevens was relying on the likes of Grant Williams and Jeff Teague to chase a shooter in Doug McDermott (16 points) and that did not go well as McDermott repeatedly got to his spots to punish Boston. The fact of the matter is Williams and Teague should not have that responsibility. Williams is an undersized big and Teague doesn’t have the size to hang with McDermott. A solid wing defender off the bench gets that assignment but the Celtics don’t have one of those guys they are willing to play right now with Aaron Nesmith still not ready for regular minutes in the eyes of the coaching staff and Javonte Green not playing due to his offensive limitations. Once again, this comes down to roster construction issues and the C’s not having an adequate replacement for Hayward’s spot on the wing yet. That has left them exposed for a large chunk of this game defensively (and the past two as well) as all of Indy’s scorers got going for significant stretches.
Rob Williams still can’t be trusted on defense in crunch time: It was a great performance by the Timelord for the majority of his 22 minutes and to be fair, the C’s probably aren’t in a position to win without him. However, his inability to stay solid in a half-court defensive set with the game on the line is a reminder of how much longer he has to go. Tristan Thompson and Daniel Theis were pushed to the side in crunch time this evening but they are two veterans that are reliable in that spot in avoiding mistakes, such as letting Sabonis getting to his left hand with a head of steam with the game on the line. The Celtics clearly want Williams to develop and unleash more of his potential and games like this where he justifies getting added run are important. With that said, it’s a whole different ballgame to put him in as a defensive anchor in the half-court with the game on the line against the Pacers best player. The C’s paid Thompson a lot of money this offseason to be a defensive stopper against bigs. Not using him in that spot proved costly.
