BSJ Game Report: Celtics 126, Pacers 110 - Career best from Jaylen Brown gives Boston 2-0 lead

Everything you need to know about the Celtics Game 2 win over the Pacers, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

The Pacers came out hot again, building a six-point lead but Boston dominated the offensive boards to keep it close after one. They stormed out to a 17-0 start to the second quarter and built a 16-point lead in the second. Jaylen Brown dropped 17 in the quarter but a late run cut Boston’s lead to six at the half. Pascal Siakam got things close, but the trio of Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Derrick White helped push it to 13. Tatum really shook off his struggles in the fourth, going for 11 to close out the Pacers.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Jaylen’s big night: He tied a career playoff high with his 40 points, but what impressed me was how he moved the ball. I’m not fooled by just two assists in the box score. Brown didn’t force things at all. Much more on Jaylen separately.

- Doing the little things: I’ll get into this more later, but the Celtics were able to minimize a lot of the damage, especially the self-inflicted damage, they suffered in Game 1. They won Joe Mazzulla’s prized margins across the board: More shots, more 3s, more free throws, more rebounds, more assists, and fewer turnovers.

- Haliburton hurt: He left the game with a sore left hamstring and was noticeably limping out of the locker room to the team bus. We’ll see what the team says for Game 3, but this is a tough injury to play through. He’s already done this once this season. I’m not sure he’s going to put his health on the line again and risk another major injury. Frankly, I don’t think the Pacers should risk it either. This has been a great run for them, but don’t put your young superstar at risk. 

TURNING POINT

With 4:18 to go in the third quarter and Boston up 80-71, the Pacers had a 36-second possession that included four missed shots and three offensive rebounds. At that point, the Celtics were on a 12-5 run and any of those shots could have turned it around. Instead, the Celtics got a transition dunk, Indy called a timeout, and the lead never dipped below double digits again. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Jaylen Brown: He was pissed off in the postgame press conference. Again, more separately, but he was very clearly not a happy person after a career-best game. 

- Joe Mazzulla: He got his guys focused after a sloppy Game 1, they cleaned up some bad mistakes, and he pushed the right buttons going for a guy like Oshae Brissett. It allowed the Celtics to keep Horford to just 25 minutes in this game. 

- Oshae Brissett: I thought Xavier Tillman would get the call early but Brissett got the call and he delivered with three steals as part of a small defensive lineup that matched the Pacers’ energy. 

There's a reason why he’s part of what’s known as the “stay ready” group. 

"Just working out every day. Staying in the gym and staying focused all game,” he said. “Doesn't matter when my name gets called, could've been first, second, third or fourth quarter, I'm sitting right up there next to the coaches, trying to watch, trying to stay as locked in as I can. Just being there in the moment."

- Derrick White & Jrue Holiday: I combine these guys often, but it’s warranted. 38 combined points on 14-22 shooting and 16 assists,  I feel like White’s 23 points will fly under the radar, but the combined effort from both these guys was amazing. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Wrist injuries: Luke Kornet sprained his wrist and didn’t return. Jaylen Brown has an apparently sprain as well, and he really felt it after a couple of falls. He didn’t address it after the game but it just seems like something he’s going to have to deal with. 

HIGHLIGHTS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- They were more disciplined

Let’s revisit what I wrote earlier on Thursday: 

“The Celtics allowed 128 points. I think that's probably the baseline of what we can expect. The question now is how many of those can Boston eliminate just by doing things better? Can they eliminate two or three baskets just by playing with better discipline in the half-court? Can they eliminate two or three by getting back on defense after a miss and preventing a couple of transition buckets? Can they eliminate two or three by executing better offense so they can go back and set their defense? Can they eliminate two or three just by protecting the ball and not making horrible passes?”

- Can they eliminate two or three baskets just by playing with better discipline in the half-court? Game 1 Pacers halfcourt: 103.7 points per 100 possessions. Game 2: 105.7

- Can they eliminate two or three by getting back on defense after a miss and preventing a couple of transition buckets? Game 1 Pacers fastbreak points: 14. Game 2: seven. 

- Can they eliminate two or three by executing better offense so they can go back and set their defense? Game 1: 101.0 points per 100 possessions. Game 2: 123.9 

- Can they eliminate two or three just by protecting the ball and not making horrible passes?: Game 1: 21 points off Boston turnovers. Game 2: 12 points. 

So out of the four points I highlighted, they were noticeably better at three of those. I’m going to blame Siakam’s stupidly good mid-range shooting for not being right on all four counts.

And like I said in that piece, it’s never going to be perfect, but Boston’s discipline was much better. 

“I thought the guys did a really good job trying to win (the margins),” Mazzulla said. “It’s a three-step process keeping them out, and I thought the transition defense was good, really good, kept them in the half-court. I thought our individual defense was good, and I thought we were able to get into driving lanes and get out to shooters. They test our discipline, they test our communication, and I thought we handled it better in Game 2.”

- Tatum at center minutes worked 

Brissett’s entry into the game in the third quarter was a big momentum-changer. The momentum was going back-and-forth and Boston was just toying with getting some separation after a White 3-pointer made it a seven-point game. The Celtics went with Payton Pritchard, White, Brown Brissett, and Tatum on the floor, and they got the lead up to 15. 

“I think it allowed us to play a little bit faster,” Tatum said. “And each game presents different challenges. We always talked about, we just have to be open to different things, and whenever your number is called, whatever you're asked to do, just be ready to do it.”

They rolled with Brissett in a couple of stretches and he finished the game +18. The Celtics were able to match some of Indy’s chaotic energy and get a bunch of stops they weren’t able to get earlier in the game. 

“Chaos with chaos, right?” Jrue Holiday said. “I think they do a great job of having it seems like controlled chaos, The way that they play, they move the ball, they move bodies and they play fast, but we can also do that. We can go small, we can go big, we can play fast, we can slow down and execute. I think adding Oshae out there is just a different element where all five guys, if we were switching or if we're staying with our men, we're capable of doing so many different things.”

Mazzulla has another weapon he can unleash here. It’s a lineup that worked very well.

- Rick Carlisle’s decision to pull his starters early was … curious. 

Pascal Siakam sat with 9:25 to go and Boston up 17. It hung around there for a few minutes but Siakam never came back in. Doug McDermott played the whole fourth quarter. Jalen Smith played 6:45. Jarace Walker played 4:51. 

"The guys who had played to that point, Pascal was very tired," Rick Carlisle said. "Aaron (Nesmith) had four fouls and he was tired. That was it."

Bizarre. He knows the team better than anyone, so maybe he saw something that told him to just fold up the tent and get ready for Game 3. It thought they had a chance to close the gap some, but he didn’t take it.

“It was a little surprising,” Brown said. “I don’t know what the reasoning behind it was, but we focused on winning the game. So I think that’s what our focus was, but yeah, that definitely was a little weird.”

Next up: Game 3 is Saturday night at 8:30 in Indianapolis