BOSTON — The Celtics started off the Eastern Conference finals on the right note, but it didn’t come easy with Boston earning a 133-128 Game 1 win in overtime the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night at TD Garden.
The Celtics took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Nobody was giving the sixth-seeded Pacers a chance against the juggernaut Celtics heading into the conference finals.
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Well, the Pacers had something to say about that and still made a statement even though they came out on the losing end.
The Pacers were their usual pesky selves and continued to shoot the ball extremely well. Indiana challenged and pushed the Celtics at points and never backed down from Boston even when it start the game with a fury by scoring the first 12 points of the contest. The Pacers even overcame a 13-point deficit in the third quarter and remained unfazed during crunch time.
The same can’t be said about the Celtics, who rushed 3-pointers at times in the final minutes. Jayson Tatum even missed a wide-open triple that would have tied the game with under a minute left to play. But Jaylen Brown erased all of that with a shot from the corner that will live on in Celtics history if they go on to win the NBA title.
This will serve as a massive wake-up call to the Celtics. The Pacers aren’t going to be a pushover like the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers. Boston showed its mettle when it mattered most, but it was supposed to be easier than this for the Celtics.
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STARS OF THE GAME
— Brown rescued the Celtics in regulation. Brown knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner in front of Indiana’s bench with six seconds left in the fourth quarter to level the score at 117-all. Brown finished with 26 points along with seven rebounds and five assists.
— Tyrese Haliburton was the catalyst for the Pacers. He scored a team-high 25 points and dished out 10 assists. Haliburton also had a couple of critical 3-pointers — he hit six in the game — including a logo trey near the end of the first half and a buzzer-beating triple to close out the third quarter. Haliburton also came up with a critical block on a Derrick White 3-point attempt late in the fourth quarter.
— Tatum came through in overtime to help push the Celtics across the finish line. The Celtics star netted a 10 of his game-high 36 points in the extra frame. He shot 12-for-26 from the field to go along with 12 rebounds and four assists.
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UP NEXT
The Celtics and Pacers square off in Game 2 of the conference finals Thursday night. Tipoff from TD Garden is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
Featured image via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
