Fourth quarter, 2:25, Celtics 120-99: Here's a stat for you: The Celtics have gotten a total of 52 points tonight from their bench. Fifteen from Nate, 13 from Glen Davis, nine from Finley, six from Rasheed Wallace, four from Marquis Daniels, three from Tony Allen and two from Shelden Williams in a rare sighting. Everyone on the active roster has scored tonight — odd man out is Brian Scalabrine, who's been inactive since Finley joined the team. Gotta pity Scal on a night like this.
Fourth quarter, 5:31, Celtics 112-90: The starters are done for the night at this point, and the second unit has held down the fort admirably for a Celtics team that appears bound for an emphatic end to its two-game losing streak. Michael Finley has come off the bench and poured in six points in the fourth quarter; he now has nine for the night on 4-of-5 shooting.
End of third quarter, Celtics 98-78: Twelve minutes to go, and unless something goes horribly wrong in the next few, it looks like Doc might be able to rest his starters a bit in crunch time. The C's maintain a 98-78 advantage here at the end of the third quarter, and they continue to make the Pacers' defense look silly at every opportunity. Paul Pierce leads the way with 20 points for a very balanced, versatile Celtics attack.
Third quarter, 2:54, Celtics 92-71: One bright spot in this game for the Pacers (because really, there aren't too many): Roy Hibbert has been a beast down low tonight. Hibbert has had a dominating third quarter and he now has 20 points tonight on 8-of-11 shooting; only problem is that when he does miss, Kendrick Perkins is beating him to every offensive rebound. Not a lot of second-chance points in this game for either team, really.
Third quarter, 4:20, Celtics 91-69: I think we can forget any concerns this team had about being unable to get Ray Allen the ball. They're finding Ray with ease here in the third quarter, and not only is he hitting his shots, but he's also being smart about dumping the ball to an open teammate when the situation warrants. Back-to-back assists here for Ray — first he drops one to Perk who drives the lane for a tremendous dunk, then on the next possession he kicks it out to Paul Pierce for a three at the top of the key. This Celtics offense is just dominating. End of story.
Third quarter, 7:14, Celtics 77-59: The Celtics have been known this season for letting up on the gas pedal with a lead in the third quarter, getting a bit lazier on defense and letting the opposing team back in the game. They've blown a lot of leads this year doing it. But when you go into the break up 20, perhaps it's OK to ease up a bit. KG and Perk have looked a bit lax inside, letting Roy Hibbert into the paint a few times and get easy layups, but the Celtics still lead by 18. Each Boston starter has two points in the third quarter — good to see a balanced attack for the C's offensively.
Halftime, Celtics 67-47: The Celtics needed a nice little pick-me-up win in front of their home crowd at the TD Garden, and halfway through, they appear to be well on their way. Thus ends an absolutely dominating second quarter for the Celtics, who outscore the Pacers 38-24 and head to the locker room with a stranglehold on this game. Boston is now outshooting Indy in this game 63.2 percent to 40.5. Unreal.
Second quarter, 3:08, Celtics 59-42: Granger's now back in the game, but his effect on the Pacers' offense hasn't exactly been galvanizing. The Pacers' star makes a beautiful 3 on his first possession back on the floor, but the Pacers' offense has been dead in the two minutes since, jacking up bad shots and turning the ball over. The Celtics are making this thing into a runaway — Pierce, Rondo and Robinson are already scoring in double figures before halftime.
Second quarter, 6:03, Celtics 47-35: This thing's turned into a 3-point shootout in the blink of an eye. Nate Robinson is knocking them down left and right for the Celtics — he's now 4-for-4 from beyond the arc and shows no signs of slowing. Not to be outdone, though, Troy Murphy's gotten off a few good looks himself. Murphy is 3-for-4 from long range tonight, which is the only reason the Pacers trail this game by less than 20. Indiana's offense has been really, really ugly without Granger and Ford.
Second quarter, 8:22, Celtics 39-29: Injuries are hitting this Pacers team hard tonight. First T.J. Ford went down midway through the first quarter, leaving with a sore left groin. His return tonight is questionable. Now Danny Granger limps off the floor too — and that's a huge blow for a Pacers team that relies on the 6-foot-8 wing man for a huge chunk of the offense every night. The Pacers are already down double digits, and they could really use a healthy Granger.
Second quarter, 9:07, Celtics 36-26: The Celtics have gotten things figured out defensively. With Rasheed Wallace and Glen Davis giving the Celtics strength down low, the Pacers aren't able to get anything going inside, and they're forced to settle for contested jumpers on the perimeter. None of them are falling, and the Celtics are now out to a double-digit lead despite the second unit holding down the fort for all of this second quarter so far. Nate Robinson has made two threes already tonight, and Glen Davis has five points to boot. The Celtics' bench came to play tonight.
End of first quarter, Celtics 29-23: A huge momentum swing for the Celtics in the final minute of the first quarter. First they get five points in four seconds as Marquis Daniels knocks down a running jumper, Earl Watson turns the ball over and Nate Robinson knocks down a three without hesitation off the steal. Then Josh McRoberts gets absolutely stuffed by Glen Davis going for a bucket inside, and the crowd at the Garden goes nuts. The Celtics are up six at the break, and everything's going their way.
First quarter, 3:24, Celtics 17-16: For all the defensive fortitude that Kevin Garnett brings to the Celtics' starting five, you can't help but wonder if maybe this team is more explosive offensively when they bring Glen Davis off the bench in his stead. Davis is making as much of an effort as anyone on the Celtics roster to get to the basket and score inside; he makes that clear early with a transition bucket off a nice feed from Rondo on a fast break. The Celtics are back in the driver's seat with the bucket from Uno Uno.
First quarter, 6:13, 11-11: Normally what you see with this Celtics team is that once the shots start falling and things get clicking offensively, the momentum rolls over to the defensive end, and the team starts to get stops. A morale-driven snowball effect. Tonight, not so much — Pierce leads the C's on an 8-0 run to get them back in this game midway through the first quarter, but the Celtics defensively still haven't been able to do much to keep Brandon Rush and Troy Murphy from driving to the basket and imposing their will. The C's are out-shooting the Pacers with ease, but they can't seem to get a lead and hold it.
First quarter, 9:34, Pacers 4-0: It's a new day with a clean slate, but the Celtics continue to have the same troubles offensively. They're executing well and getting open looks from mid-range, but the shots aren't falling. The C's are 0-for-3 from the field, with Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce each getting an open look at the basket but rimming out. The Pacers are asserting their authority inside with Roy Hibbert, and they have an early 4-0 lead.
2:43 p.m.: Every time the Celtics get too down, they rattle off four wins in a heartbeat; every time they get too up, they drop a couple. This week has been the latter.
The C's rode into this week coming off a four-game winning streak and itching for more. This week, they've crashed back down to earth. They lost a pressure-packed one in Milwaukee, with Paul Pierce missing a buzzer-beater; they lost an ugly one back home against the Grizzlies, falling behind early and never making it back.
Doc Rivers' squad could really use a win now to get their spirits back up and their energy flowing. So it's a good time for a visit from the Indiana Pacers, one of the worst teams in the NBA. The Pacers are led by a former Celtics head coach, Jim O'Brien, and run by a Boston legend, Larry Bird. Perhaps the Celtics could get by tonight with a little help from their friends.
