With Rajon Rondo still out and with Nate Robinson struggling some, it was Daniels who the Celtics turned to run the point down the stretch.
He excelled in that position, and as a result, the Celtics responded loudly in the fourth, following a collapse on Saturday in the game's final quarter. The Celtics outscored the Pacers, 29-16 in one of the Green's best fourth quarters of the season.
Fourth Quarter, 0:00, Celtics 95-83: The Celtics dig on defense, and Kevin Garnett picks up a deflection that leads to a Paul Pierce runout for a dunk as the exclamation point. He follows it up with a three-pointer for good measure.
Fourth quarter, 0:56.3, Celtics 90-83: Marquis Daniels gets another easy two, this time courtesy of Paul Pierce, something that may put this one away.
Fourth quarter, 4:00, Celtics 74-64: Shaquille O'Neal, thanks for playing. A questionable charging foul ends Shaq's night, just seconds after he had checked back in. Too bad, as O'Neal was having a solid night — in the 16 minutes he played.
Fourth quarter, 5:31, Celtics 74-63: A quick look at tonight's plus/minus numbers, and you'll be able to pick up who's made the difference tonight for the Celtics. Glen Davis is a +22, Marquis Daniels is +16 and even Von Wafer is +10. Much of that came in a recent run in which the Celtics have built this 11-point cushion.
Fourth quarter, 7:25, Celtics 79-69: With Marquis Daniels practically running the point, the Celtics have grabbed a pretty commanding 10-point lead — especially when you consider who was on the floor to do so. Right now, it's Daniels, Glen Davis, Von Wafer, Jermaine O'Neal and Ray Allen.
Fourth quarter, 10:27, Celtics 70-67: Marquis Daniels keeps it up. After giving the Celtics the lead with a baby hook, he makes a stop on the defensive end caps it off with an assist, finding Glen Davis for an open jumper. The Celtics have their first lead since halfway through the first quarter.
End Third Quarter, Pacers 67-66: It was a forgettable start to the third quarter, but credit the Celtics for weathering the storm in the third. They withstood the 5-0 run to start the quarter, dug in on defense and now they'll head to the fourth quarter trailing by only a pair.
Kind of a big fourth quarter for this Celtics team. They'd like to get back on the winning track, of course, and following an ugly meltdown in Orlando in the fourth, this could be a good time to make up for that with a strong final stanza.
Third Quarter, 1:04, Pacers 65-64: Celtics fans have to like what they've seen out of Marquis Daniels this year. He's in the midst of playing some strong defense and taking advantage of a mismatch with T.J. Ford. As a result, the C's are right back in it.
Third Quarter, 4:00, Pacers 60-54: Rough call against the Celtics there, as the refs probably should have let them play when Nate Robinson and Mike Dunleavy bump heads. Both appaeared to be cut open and have headed to the locker room. Marquis Daniels checks in for Robinson, which means Paul Pierce will likely assume point guard responsibilties. At least C's fans should hope he will.
Third Quarter, 7:20, Pacers 56-48: And just like that, Shaq picks up a bad fifth foul. Glen Davis checks in, and we likely won't see Shaq again until the fourth quarter.
Expect the Pacers to go to the 7-foot-2 Roy Hibbert with Celtics calling on a smaller frontcourt in Shaq's absence.
Third Quarter, 8:29, Pacers 54-48: Shaq picks up his fourth foul, but Doc Rivers is going to leave him in there. Almost came back to bite him, though, as O'Neal could have been called for a foul on the next play.
Third Quarter, 10:27, Pacers 52-45: The Celtics start the third quarter far from where they left off in the second. Doc Rivers is rather unhappy following a 5-0 Pacers run to start the half, and he takes a timeout.
Halftime, Pacers 47-45: Defense leads to offense. The Celtics limit the Pacers to only two points in the last three-plus minutes, and they get right back into the game. In fact, they got Ray Allen had an open look that gave the C's a chance to grab the lead, but he missed.
Surely, the Celtics will take a two-point deficit with the way this one started.
Paul Pierce is doing it all, tonight. Aside from one lapse on the defensive end, he's been a scorer and a facilitator. He's got game highs in both points (12) and assists (four).
Second quarter, 3:27, Pacers 45-38: Shaquille O'Neal just picked up his third fould, which is a shame for the C's, because besides Pierce, Shaq's been the best guy on the court for Boston tonight.
Second quarter, 4:25, Pacers 41-38: Robinson heard my criticism of his ball-distribution apparently. Terrific entry pass to Shaquille O'Neal, who is fouled, but hits both free throws. Shaq's got nine points, and he's 5-of-6 from the line.
Second quarter, 5:58, Pacers 39-35: Nate Robinson's skills as a pure distributor aren't the best; that's no secret. But it's impossible to question his hustle. He just dove on the floor for a loose ball and found Pierce for a three-pointer. Pierce has 10 straight points, and the Celtics now trail by four.
Second quarter, 6:21, Pacers 39-32: Paul Pierce has scored the last seven points for the Celtics. The C's still trail by seven.
Second quarter, 8:17, Pacers 34-24: The first half from the Celtics has featured two jump shots from just outside the key from Nate Robinson, two baseline jumpers from Glen Davis and a shot from just inside the arc from Avery Bradley. All misses.
However, it's starting to look like defense is the bigger problem for the Celtics. They're getting beat off the dribble and their rotations have been questionable at best.
When you're playing as bad as they are offensively right now, you need to rely on your defense to generate some offense. No such luck yet for the Celtics.
Second quarter, 10:06, Pacers 28-19: Jermaine O'Neal is making his return to Indiana tonight. He's stated he'd like to return someday. So, you would think he may be playing inspired basketball tonight, right?
Far from it. By my calculations, he's gotten beat for two offensive rebounds. And he's been late on a defensive rotation twice. Not great work to say the least.
End of First, Pacers 26-19: The first quarter ends, and not a moment too soon for the Celtics. Their offense is struggling to say the least early on.
The Pacers are making it clear that they're going to make the Celtics work for everything, pressuring ball-handlers in the absence of Rondo. It's working, too.
The C's only have four assists through one — two of them came from Paul Pierce, who sat down at the 8:02 mark.
First quarter, 1:30, Pacers 26-17: Ray Allen, is a shooting guard. He is not a point guard. This may seem obvious, but the Pacers are making it glaringly obvious. They're doing a tremendous job of pressuring the ball and making the Rondo-less Celtics work for every single possession.
First quarter, 3:00, Pacers 22-15: Doc Rivers talked about the differences in the Celtics offense when Nate Robinson is in as opposed to Rondo. It's clear so far tonight. A lot of standing around for the Celtics offensively, and Robinson continues to settle for short jumpers. Rivers does the right thing, sitting Robinson in favor for Avery Bradley.
First quarter, 4:57, Pacers 16-13: Nate Robinson misses his first shot, picking up right where he left off on Saturday. He's not alone, though. The C's are shooting just 41 percent from the field. The Pacers, meanwhile, are hitting from a 50 percent clip.
First quarter, 6:30, 12-12: Marquis Daniels is on the court for the Celtics now in replace of Pierce. On his first defensive possession, Granger blows by him, only to miss the layup. On the other end, Daniels drives and finishes a layup of his own. Go figure.First quarter, 6:30, 12-12: Marquis Daniels is on the court for the Celtics now in replace of Pierce. On his first defensive possession, Granger blows by him, only to miss the layup. On the other end, Daniels drives and finishes a layup of his own. Go figure.
First quarter, 8:00, Pacers 10-8: Shaquille O'Neal looks good early. He's got an early five points. However, the Pacers are shooting well from the floor, and Paul Pierce just left with his second foul.
6:55 p.m.: With the news of Rajon Rondo's possible return, this may be one of Nate Robinson's last starts of the year.
He did a solid job in filling in for Rondo, but no matter what anyone says, you don't want to see this Celtics team over the long term with Robinson at the point.
That being said, he needs to rebound from a disasterous 2-for-15 on Saturday against the Magic. Interstingly enough, Robinson logged a game-high 42 minutes. It'll be interesting to see if Doc Rivers goes to rookie Avery Bradley a little more often against the Pacers.
As NESN.com's Evans Clinchy pointed out earlier, Bradley did a strong job defensively in a very limited role on Saturday.
6:35 p.m.: One matchup that will certainly be interesting to watch tonight is at the center position where Shaquille O'Neal will square off with Indy's Roy Hibbert.
Hibbert put 17 and 14 on Dec. 19 against the Celtics. Those numbers look good, but it's important to note that it was on 8-of-23 shooting.
In fact, in Indiana's loss on Sunday, Hibbert started the evening 1-for-13 from the floor. Ouch.
6 p.m.: The Celtics are an hour away from tipping off with Pacers, but first, there is some news on the Rajon Rondo front.
Doc Rivers told reporters Tuesday that the point guard could be back as early as Friday when the C's head home to battle the Hornets.
Rondo injured his ankle on Dec. 15 against the Knicks and hasn't played since.
8 a.m.: If the Celtics want to build a new winning streak, they'll have to do so starting in Indiana.
The C's head to Conseco Fieldhouse on Wednesday night for a tilt with the Pacers, Boston's first game since a disappointing loss on Christmas at the hands of the Magic.
The Pacers and Celtics met just over a week ago in Boston, with the C's coming away victorious as part of their 14-game winning streak, a run that was halted by the Magic on Saturday.
Stopping Danny Granger will once again be crucial for the Celtics, but dealing with an upset Pacers squad may also be something to keep an eye on. The Pacers had a disappointing showing in their last game, a 104-90 loss to the Grizzlies on Sunday. It was an effort that had head coach Jim O'Brien searching for answers afterward.
Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. ET.
