Celtics-Pacers takeaways: Tatum, great defense power C’s to 118-101 win originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The last time the Boston Celtics came to Indiana, the Pacers knocked them out of the NBA’s in-season tournament with a huge fourth quarter.
But the C’s made sure history didn’t repeat itself this time. Boston’s defense was outstanding and held the league’s highest-scoring offense to its lowest output of the season in a 118-101 win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Celtics were in control nearly the entire game, led by their two stars Jayson Tatum (38 points) and Jaylen Brown (31 points).
After falling behind by as many as 16 in the first half, the Pacers mounted a good comeback and trimmed the Celtics’ lead to 84-81 at the end of the third quarter. But the Celtics’ execution level increased in the fourth quarter as they built the lead back up to 16. Tatum provided a lot of the offense and led an 18-4 run that put the score out of reach for Indiana.
Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis left the game in the first quarter after getting hit in the right eye. He briefly returned before exiting for good.
The win improves Boston’s record to a league-best 28-7. The Celtics will remain in Indiana and play the Pacers again Monday night. Before we look ahead to that matchup, here are four takeaways from Saturday’s showdown.
Strong start defensively The Celtics entered this game with the league’s second-best defensive rating, and they put the clamps on the Pacers in the first quarter. The Pacers put up just 17 points, making it their lowest-scoring first quarter of the season. It also tied for their lowest-scoring quarter in any game.
The C’s did a great job contesting shots as the Pacers hit on just seven of their 23 field goal attempts over the first 12 minutes, including a putrid 1-of-10 mark from 3-point range. Boston also blocked two shots and tallied one steal in the quarter. The Celtics did a nice job defending the paint, too, and forced four missed shots by the Pacers at the rim.
Here’s a look at the Pacers’ shot chart for the first quarter:
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Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton didn’t score a single point and missed all four of his shot attempts in the quarter.
The Pacers came into Saturday as the highest-scoring team in the league at 127 points per game, but they had no answers for the Celtics’ active defense to begin this game.
The Celtics have been a very good team in the first quarter this season. They rank No. 1 in first quarter points allowed at 25.9 per game and easily own the best first-quarter net rating (21.2). The Jays carry the offense The Celtics needed a huge game from their two superstars and that’s exactly what they got. » …
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