BSJ Game Report: Pacers 135, Celtics 132 (OT) - C's fall down big, storm back, but lose in OT

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

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics didn’t shoot great in the first quarter, but they did enough to keep the game within four with a Pacers team that was running off every miss and turnover. Boston’s shooting and defense got worse in the second quarter while Pascal Siakam piled up 17 first-half points to give Indy a 10-point lead. The Pacers pushed that lead to 24 but the Celtics closed it to 14 heading into the fourth. It got up to 19 but the Celtics staged a furious comeback to tie the game and go to overtime. They actually took the lead, but Siakam hit the next two buckets to win the game. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Incredible comeback: Let’s start with the positive. Down 24 at one point in the third and 19 in the fourth with 7:27 to go, the Celtics looked about as bad as we’ve seen them in a long time. There isn’t a soul who would have argued with the Celtics just cashing it in, putting in the bench, and living to fight another day. Instead, they finally played some defense (and the Pacers helped by slowing down and getting out of their rhythm) and staged a big comeback to force OT. If this was anything other than a 1-11 shooting night for Jaylen Brown or 5-18 for Jayson Tatum from deep, this game goes differently.

- Defense struggling: The Celtics came into the game allowing 52 points in the paint and that number will go up after Indy’s 62. It got better with Neemias Queta in the game down the stretch in the fourth, but this is still a problem. Transition defense is a problem for Boston right now, but also guards have to be better on the perimeter. 

- Classic Celtics-Pacers game: At this point, I could feed the last couple seasons of Celtics-Pacers games into some AI program and it could spit out this exact game. The Pacers give Boston problems but the Celtics are never really out of any of these games. There's always some crazy comeback and someone on the Pacers with an insane outlier performance (like Bennedict Mathurin’s 30 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists). 

TURNING POINT

The Celtics went two-for-one with :37 seconds left in a tie game, with Tatum taking and missing a 3-pointer at the :33 mark. After a jump ball, Siakam buried a 3-pointer to give the Pacers the lead for good. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Neemias Queta: He played such a big role in the Celtics coming back, finishing a +18 in 13:39 of play. He had four offensive rebounds, a blocked shot, and a few challenged shots that helped swing this game. He kept a possession alive with 1:22 to go when he rebounded Tatum and Brown misses, which ultimately led to game-tying free throws by Payton Pritchard. 

- Derrick White: It’s odd to me that a guy who only missed once on the night took only nine shots. One would think the Celtics might recognize the hot hand and try to get a little more out of the one guy who was hitting that night. I’m not asking for a lot, just that maybe Tatum and Brown take a few less shots so they could find White instead. 

I know it doesn’t work this way, but if Tatum and Brown each took 24 shots and White got the extra six, how would this game have gone?

Bench energy: Guys like Pritchard, Sam Hauser, Xavier Tillman, and Jordan Walsh came in and changed the energy later in the games. Joe Mazzulla didn’t go with Al Horford or Jrue Holiday late in the game because the bench guys were making a big difference. Credit to them for their impact on turning a blowout around and nearly winning this game. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- The Jays taking so many 3-pointers: Everyone knows that I believe in the Celtics offensive strategy, but I think everything has limits. And one line I’d like to draw is two guys taking 29 3-pointers combined and shooting less than 21%. There are three teams in the NBA AVERAGING less than 30 3-pointers per game. There's no way these two guys, regardless of who they are, should have taken that many. 

I understand you have to shoot with confidence and always believe the next one is going in, but even that has its limits.

- Transition defense: Get back on defense. This is a big reason the points in the paint is such a rough number for the Celtics. 

- Smokin’ bunnies: The Celtics were 16-28 at the rim, which was actually a recovery from earlier in the game when they started 5-13. They went 11-15 after that, which is fairly normal, but the early issues are part of what led to the transition issues. I’ve said it a lot here and I’ll continue to bang this drum: missed layups might as well be turnovers because they almost entirely lead to five-on-four situations. We saw it kill the Celtics early on. 

- Step slow most of the night: We should have known how this was going to go when the opening tip bounced towards Tatum and he tried tipping it to White but instead turned it over. The Celtics struggled to keep up for all but about maybe eight minutes of regulation, but when they did they went on a major run. 

HIGHLIGHTS

FOUR TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- The last play was actually pretty good: They needed to get guys going to the basket so Indiana couldn't foul and force Boston to take two free throws when they were down three. The play call got just that, so the Celtics were not only able to get the shot up cleanly, they got it up in time to get an offensive rebound and get a second chance at it. 

The problem was that Brown was having such a rough shooting night that he airballed the shot. Just a really rough night for him. 

- I’m fine with going without Horford or Holiday down the stretch: Maybe Mazzulla could have gone with them in the overtime, but also Queta’s four offensive rebounds were huge for Boston. We can debate Pritchard over Holiday, but I think Pritchard’s energy was a big part of the comeback so Mazzulla wanted to reward him. 

- Early wake-up calls aren’t so bad: I feel like we were trending towards this loss. A little lapse against the Wizards, a bigger lapse against the Pistons, a tough offensive night against the Bucks, now the culmination of it all against the Pacers.  

- Tatum needs to look at his shot selection: I think the big night against the Knicks might have been counterproductive. He was 8-11 that night, but 15-50 (30%) since. Maybe it’s time to look at his shots and be a little more judicious. He’s leading the lead in 3-point attempts. I’m not sure that's where he should be by the end of the season. 

Next up: The Celtics head to Charlotte for back-to-back games against the Hornets Friday and Saturday night.