Boston Celtics fans, you can breathe a sigh of relief.
The C’s escaped a high-scoring duel against the Indiana Pacers 142-138, putting the game away in the final seconds of overtime. It’s the first win against Indiana this season. Boston moves to 43-17 and 1-0 since the All-Star break.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown led the way with 31 and 30 points respectively, while Malcolm Brogdon dropped 24 points off the bench in his return to Indiana. The entire team shot well from three, going for 46.2% on the night, and created many second chance points off offensive rebounds.
Myles Turner exploded for the Pacers with 40 points while shooting 8/10 from three. Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin also had huge games, going for 22 and 19 each and forcing huge turnovers late in the game. The Pacers had the momentum throughout most of the second half, turning up the pace and shooting lights out from three, but the Celtics were able to answer every scoring run they had.
After the Pacers erased a 16-point second quarter deficit, the second half and OT were defined by high octane scoring and poor defensive play on both sides. Ultimately, after getting a stop on an Aaron Nesmith three and a put back bucket on the other end from Tatum, Boston pulled away for good with 10.4 seconds left in overtime.
The Celtics next game is in Philadelphia on Saturday night, where they’ll look to tighten up defensively against Joel Embiid and the 76ers.
