Haliburton’s 33 Points Enough As Pacers Survive Celtics’ Rally

Boston, MA — The Boston Celtics learned tonight that it is virtually impossible to overcome a 28-point halftime deficit, and the Garden home crowd let the players hear it.

The Boston Celtics’ rally fell short Wednesday night as the Indiana Pacers sent Boston to their first 3-game losing streak in nearly a calendar year, 117-112.

Boston fell behind early as Indiana exploited some lazy perimeter defense from Derrick White and Jaylen Brown in the first half, leading to the Pacers winning the fastbreak points and paint points battles handily from the first half. Tyrese Haliburton led the Pacers with 33 points and 8 assists, including 2 huge 3-pointers in the final 4 minutes, helping to seal the game and stamp his case for an All-star bid.

Jayson Tatum returned to the lineup and posted his 5th 40-point game of the year in the loss. The real story, however, has been the struggle with integrating Robert Williams back into the lineup. The Celtics’ offense was the best in the league before his debut, but has posted just a 103 rating since his return (27th in the league during that span).

Finding a way to restore the offensive success the team enjoyed without their anchor will be essential to their success moving forward.

After the latest loss, The Celtics have fallen behind the Bucks for the top seed in the East.

Boston now hosts Minnesota before the Bucks visit the Garden on Christmas day.