BSJ Game Report: Celtics 155, Pacers 104 - Tatum leads complete dismantling of Indiana

Everything you need to know about the Celtics blowout of the Pacers, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics put up 44 first-quarter points to take a 17-point lead behind an early burst from Jrue Holiday, a late kick by Jayson Tatum, and 11 from Derrick White. The team cooled off in the second quarter, but Tatum had 12 and Boston took a 21-point lead into the half. The Celtics came out strong in the second half, pushed the lead to 35 early in the third quarter, and to 38 by the end of it. The rest was garbage time.

Box Score 

HEADLINES

Another drubbing: The Celtics came out strong, built a lead, added to it, and never relaxed for a second. The result was a 51-point win. Maybe they were just on a sugar high from Halloween, but they were relentless the entire night. 

Dominant Tatum: 30 points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes and he had his whole bag working. It’s obviously early and things may change, but the Tatum of these first four games is better than any Tatum I’ve ever seen. 

Bench back on track: Sam Hauser shot 5-6 from 3 and scored 17 points. Payton Pritchard had 15 points and 9 assists. Guys got plenty of opportunity and unlike the last game, they cashed in on it. 

“They were organized. They got to their spots faster,” Joe Mazzulla said after the game. “There's certain things that you can do to put yourself in a better situation in those. It's defend without fouling, it’s limiting them to one shot, it's not giving up transition. And those are the three things that they did in the Washington game and those are the three things that they did a great job of taking away in this game.”

TURNING POINT

Let’s highlight the third quarter here because a lot of coaches will tell you it’s kind of scary to have a big halftime lead. There's plenty of time for the other team to come out and make a run and then you're on your heels when a 10-0 run makes it an 11-point game. But Boston came out with that 19-9 run and put the hammer down. The game was over at that point.

THINGS I LIKED

Strong start to each half: It would have been very easy to come out slow against the Pacers, especially with Tyrese Haliburton sitting out. They didn’t.

Okay, fine. They had a big first quarter but they only won the second quarter by four and they were up 21 going into the third quarter. Classic cruise control spot there, right? 

Nope. 

“I think that’s the mental toughness,” Mazzulla said. “You see games in the NBA where it doesn’t always go that way; you have a team that comes out with a 6-to-8-0 run, and then the dynamic of the game changes. Our guys are well aware of that and hats off to them for just competing at a high, high level the entire game.”

Minutes distribution: Kristaps Porzingis was the minutes leader with 27:08. Two straight games of everyone not even touching 30 minutes of play is amazing. 

Side note: I try not to think about things this way, but sometimes nights like this make last year that much more frustrating. How many times did we say “just blow them out, rest the whole fourth, and save your legs” after they worked too hard to win what should have been easy games? 

This is why it’s not healthy to worry too much about the past. 

Jayson Tatum: I’ll get more into this separately, but not only did Tatum score very easily, he rebounded, he moved the ball, he set screens. He had an overall great game. 

Hot shooting: Look at this shot zone chart

They hit a lot of shots, but they generated great ones. They were +45 from 3, but they also attacked well and got to the line. Boston was +20 on free throws as well. 

Derrick White: The man is just a quality basketball player. Watch him on this defensive possession. 

via GIPHY

The man is everywhere. 

Jrue Holiday: He was part of setting the tone in this game, and he was a defensive monster as usual. The Celtics defense, especially in the third quarter, was maniacal. Holiday and White are leading that charge.  

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

Points in the paint: Boston gave up 70 points in the paint in this game. I’m not going to make a big deal about it in a 50-point win, but this game could have been a LOT different if the Pacers could hit a 3. They were 5-37 from deep in this game. Sure Boston’s defense was obscene in this game, but that doesn’t account for 32 missed 3-pointers. A lot of that is shooting variance. 

I’m just sayin’. 

HIGHLIGHTS

A lot can change. There will be lulls. There will be bad losses. There will be questionable efforts. 

But right now, I look at this team and think it’s just unfair to have Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis as fourth and fifth options offensively. 

Just think about that for a second. 

Porzingis took seven shots. Holiday took nine. Boston won by 51 freakin’ points.

Who do you guard? Who do you double? At any given time, all five guys on the floor can have a favorable matchup. It’s an impossible team to guard if they call play the right way. 

The only team that can beat the Boston Celtics is the Boston Celtics. As long as they don’t screw up and actually beat themselves, it’s going to be a fun season. 

Next up: The Celtics start a three-game road trip Saturday night in Brooklyn