Final: Celtics 120, Pacers 95 - Celtics bring energy in blowout

Game 74: Celtics (-12) vs. Indiana Pacers, 7:00 p.m., TD Garden, NBCS Boston/NBA TV

Injuries: 

Boston: OUT- Danilo Gallinari, Payton Pritchard (heel)

Indiana: OUT- Kendall Brown (leg)

QUESTIONABLE- Tyrese Haliburton (ankle), Chris Duarte (ankle)

Pacers Probable Starters: Andrew Nembhard, Buddy Hield, Aaron Nesmith, Benedict Mathurin, Myles Turner

Refs: Courtney Kirkland (#61), Curtis Blair (#74), Robert Hussey (#85)

Last time they played: Celtics 142, Pacers 138 (OT), February 23 - The Celtics came out a little sloppy with 7 first-quarter turnovers, a bunch of them coming early. But the Celtics' offense otherwise looked pretty good, and went on a pair of big runs to build a 9-point lead. However, the Pacers made a late run to cut that to 3. The Celtics were able to get the lead into double-digits in the second with Jayson Tatum on the bench and as high as 16 but the Pacers kept it close into the half, and then opened the third with a monster run. From there, it was a back-and-forth game. Whenever Boston made any kind of run, the Pacers answered (often with a 3). Late mistakes cost Boston a chance to close it out in regulation, and the mistakes carried into the overtime, but Marcus Smart got the Celtics off to a good start and Tatum’s putback in the final minute sealed the win. 

A little something about this game: The Pacers are 14-23 on the road, though they are 6-3 in their last 9 road games. Tyrese Haliburton has missed six straight games with an ankle injury. Nembhard, a rookie who replaced Haliburton in the starting lineup on Wednesday night, dropped 25 points and 10 assists. The Pacers are 1.5 behind the Chicago Bulls for the last play-in spot.

Things I’m looking for:

- Who starts? Maybe we make too much of it sometimes, but who starts impacts who comes off the bench, which impacts rotations, and that has an impact on how guys get ready for games. Robert Williams came off the bench in his return in Sacramento. Will that continue? 

“It's just gonna depend on who we're playing, who else is healthy and what the matchups are,” Joe Mazzulla said at the team’s Thursday practice. “So putting our team in a bind like ‘this is our starting lineup’ just doesn't maximize our roster and the lineups that we can play, so we just have to see.”

That was the main topic of today’s Locked On Celtics podcast. You can listen here or search for it on your preferred podcast app to hear much more on the starting lineups. 

- Run them off the line: Indiana has made 10 or more 3-pointers in all but nine games this season, and they had 22 3-pointers in last Thursday's win, which was one shy of a team record. Buddy Hield leads all players in the NBA this season in 3-pointers made with 266. He has made multiple 3-pointers in all but six games this season with five or more 3s in 25 games. The 3-point shooting killed the Celtics in the last game (Turner was unconscious), so they have to be disciplined when closing out on Pacers shooters and forcing them into drives, especially with Robert Williams on the floor. 

- First game back off a long road trip blues: This is Boston’s first game at the Garden in 16 days. These games are almost always problematic for the home team. The Pacers are coming in with a little confidence not only after a win in Toronto, but also with a win earlier this season against the Celtics and then an overtime loss. So they’ll be chomping at the bit to play spoiler while there's a strong chance the Celtics will look sluggish. If the Celtics can shake that off quickly, or avoid that feeling altogether, it’ll be an incredible sign of their renewed focus. 

Follow along below or in the comments during the game, chime in, and let’s have fun.