BOSTON – The Boston Celtics have one of the youngest teams in the NBA, and for the first half of Friday night’s game against Indiana they looked like it.
And while their second half surge had the makings of yet another coming-of-age comeback, the Pacers – Victor Oladipo specifically – had a different ending for Boston’s all-too-common rally-for-the-win narrative.
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Despite Boston taking the lead in the fourth quarter after trailing Indiana by as many as 26 points, Oladipo’s scoring down the stretch lifted the Pacers to a 97-91 win.
Oladipo led all scorers with 35 points, which included a stretch in the closing minutes when he scored on three consecutive possessions with the last putting Boston ahead 91-85 with 1:37 to play.
Boston could get no closer than five points with the Pacers beating Boston (40-17) for the first time this season in three meetings along with snapping a five-game losing streak to the Green team.
Kyrie Irving had 21 points for Boston, while Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum had 16 and 15 points, respectively.
Boston Celtics
Boston spent most of the game chipping away at Indiana's lead, seemingly in close-but-not-quite-there mode.
Trailing 80-78, Boston's Daniel Theis missed a driving lay-up attempt.
And after forcing a Pacers turnover, Terry Rozier had back-to-back 3-point attempts that were wide open and lightly guarded, that were both off the mark.
Well aware that the game’s momentum was in Boston's favor, Indiana coach Nate McMillan called a time-out with 6:51 to play with his team clinging to a slim two-point lead.
Boston eventually tied the game with an Al Horford put-back, and took their first lead with a 3-pointer by Horford.
But Oladipo did his part to respond to each Horford basket of his own, each putting the Pacers back on top.
Give Indiana credit.
They took the brunt of Boston’s strong second half play and didn’t fold with Oladipo leading the charge for an important win that builds on their strong play which has led to wins in seven of their last 10 games.
Boston fell behind by as many as 26 points in the first half, as the Pacers absolutely feasted off of Boston’s turnovers and got out in transition which factored in Indiana’s decisive 14-2 advantage in fast-break points.
The Celtics surge we’re so used to seeing, began to manifest itself in the third quarter with Boston going on a 10-2 run to come within 66-52 with 8:44 to play in the quarter.
Boston continued to push forward, coming within eight points (74-66) following a Brown 3-pointer.
And to cap off an impressive third quarter, Rozier drained a deep buzzer-beater that brought Boston within 76-72 after three quarters of play.