BSJ Game Report: Celtics 128, Pacers 123 - Lackluster Celtics do just enough to hold on

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics win over the Indiana Pacers, with BSJ insight and analysis 

IN A NUTSHELL

This wasn’t exactly the prettiest of games, except for the 11-2 run to start the game by the Celtics. They turned the ball over too much again, and their defense has certainly taken a step back without Robert Williams, but they overcame a monster night by Tyrese Haliburton (30 points on 10-11 shooting) behind 63 combined points from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to hold off the Pacers. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

Defensive slippage: The Pacers are playing better, but the Celtics certainly allowed them to get going a bit. The Celtics let them shoot 47% from 3 and 52% overall. 

“Communication-wise, it's a few games in a row now that we haven't been as sharp as we need to be with the switching, with the communication, and that was a little bit more of a thing tonight, just like last game,” Ime Udoka said, which is not exactly encouraging. 

Too many turnovers: After the initial 11-2 run, Boston turned the ball over four straight possessions and then again about a minute later. They finished with 15, so I guess you can say they cleaned it up after the initial burst, but they also gave up 21 points off those turnovers which is just too many. 

Standings watch: Milwaukee lost, so Boston is now just a half-game out of the second seed and 1.5 out of first. They move a full game ahead of Philadelphia. The Sixers host Charlotte tomorrow. Miami is at Chicago. 

TURNING POINT 

It came late, but that's how this game went. With less than a minute to go, the Celtics looked like they were about to commit a critical turnover, but instead, Al Horford got the ball over to Jayson Tatum for a dunk to put them up six. The Pacers came down and hit a 3-pointer (of course) but then Derrick White closed it by breaking through the defense for a layup. 

FOUR UP

Jaylen Brown: He had his usual hot start with 14 points in the first quarter. He closed well, too, with 7 points on 3-4 shooting. He also had 2 assists in the fourth and a team-high seven overall. 

Al Horford: 17 points (7-8 fg, 2-2 3pt), 10 rebounds, 6 assists for Horford in 34:30. The pair of 3-pointers is the best part of that night. Boston needs him to keep hitting to make life easier on the other end. 

Daniel Theis: 10 points on 5-8 shooting, doing a very admirable job filling in for Williams. It’s about what we can expect from him in this role. He’s not going to block everything Rob blocks, but he'll generally get a couple. He won’t dunk everything Rob does but he’ll catch most lobs and finish. Again, he’s a spare tire. You can get where you’re going with him.

Jayson Tatum: I’ll nudge Tatum onto this because 31/6/6 is too good not to, even though the efficiency has dropped off a bunch and he’s back to launching some ill-advised 3-pointers. I just feel like he’s biding his time until the playoffs and coasting a little bit. 

ONE DOWN

Grant Williams: Another 0-3 from 3 and I’m starting to get a little concerned about that shot not falling. His splits are trending in the very wrong direction. He’s 41% on the season, but 35% over his last 20 games, 29% over his last 15, 25% over his last 10, and 16.7% over his last five. 

Grant’s job is to space the floor and hit 3-pointers. He needs to get back to that “corner office” and quick

TOP PLAYS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- The Celtics seem tired

This could just be a one night thing, or a one week thing, or maybe even a little more, but they were definitely not bringing their A-Game in this one. 

I guess it’s a positive that they could still win on a night like this.

“It’s hard to win games in this league. We can’t take our wins for granted,” Marcus Smart said afterward. “It doesn’t matter who it’s against. To win a game in this league against any team is special and to go out there and do it on the night where the energy just wasn’t there, and they had a lot of momentum, they were hitting shots and playing some of the best basketball I’ve seen with their scoring, and that’s what it’s all about, especially going into the playoffs to be able to experience that now and get a rhythm.”

They made low-energy mistakes on both ends of the floor. They didn’t do it all the time, but they did it enough that it made the game tough. 

Like yesterday, the takeaway is that it’s better to go through this now rather than later, but obviously everyone would prefer you not go through it at all. 

But if it is some fatigue, then just give guys nights off. Let Tatum take Sunday off. Let Brown sit Wednesday. Give them the days they need to get right now and give them one or two good runs to end the season heading into a week off before the playoffs.