The Celtics were outclassed in their rematch against the Pacers on Sunday night, falling 123-113 in one of their worst defensive efforts of the season.
A shorthanded Boston squad played without Kristaps Porzingis (ankle) and Jrue Holiday (shoulder) for the second straight game. They had their hands full this time around against a motivated Pacers squad after they were dominated on Friday night in Boston.
Tyrese Halliburton (31 points, seven assists) led six different Pacers to score in double figures, as the visitors shot a red-hot 53 percent from the field, one of the best shooting performances by a Boston opponent this season.
Indiana led by as many as 11 points in the first quarter after jumping out to a 16-5 lead before the Celtics fought back to take the lead early in the second quarter. From there, the Pacers offense remained a steady force as they took command of the game midway through the second quarter and kept the pressure on offensively the rest of the way, holding the lead for the final 31 minutes of the game. The hosts made things interesting with a 9-0 run to trim the Pacers’ lead to two early in the fourth quarter. However, Indiana bounced right back with a 12-0 run of their own to re-take command heading into crunch time and put the hosts away
Jaylen Brown finished with a team-high 31 points while Jayson Tatum bounced back from a slow start to score 22 points but it wasn’t enough to match the Pacers offensive firepower.
With the loss, the Celtics are now just one game ahead of the Knicks for the No. 2 seed in the East.
Here are four Celtics takeaways from Sunday’s game:
Payton Pritchard keeps Celtics float early but struggles late: Boston’s offense was especially slow of the gate, with Boston’s starters mustering just 10 points in the first six minutes of the game. The tempo and production increased in a hurry with Payton Pritchard’s insertion in the lineup, particularly in the second quarter. The reserve guard erupted for 13 of his team-high 19 first half points in the second quarter, going 5-of-5 from the field and 3-of-3 from 3-point range. Whether it was taking advantage of Pacers slow rotations or working his way into the paint, Pritchard is one of the most consistent Celtics right now and it was desperately needed on a night when no one outside of Jaylen Brown had it going offensively. However, he failed to make a basket in the second half, and made a pair of crucial turnovers that helped fuel a Pacers fourth quarter run.
Jayson Tatum starts slow but wakes up too late in the second half: The All-Star forward usually feasts against the Pacers defense but he failed to find his groove Sunday night early on. Tatum missed seven of his eight shots in the first half including all six from 3-point range as the Pacers went under screens against him. He did dish out five assists before intermission but the slow start helped Boston fall into an early hole against a Pacers offense that was running circles around the Celtics defense for most of the first two quarters. Tatum bounced back with 17 second half points but it wasn’t enough against a Pacers offense that put up points all night long against a Boston defense that wasn’t locked in.
Pacers guards wreak havoc against Celtics defense: After an embarrassing blowout loss against the Celtics Friday, the Pacers offense came back with a fury out of the gate. Aided by the return of Andrew Nembhard to the lineup, the Pacers shot 59.5 percent from the field in the first half to build a seven-point halftime lead. Nembhard and Tyrese Halliburton combined for 27 points on 11-of-14 shooting before intermission as Boston’s defense struggled to keep both in front of them. It was the latest of a long list of dynamic guards to give the Celtics defense problems in December. Halliburton became the fifth guard to put up 30-plus points in a game against Boston in December.
Al Horford has a night to forget: The Celtics have been spoiled with their production from the 38-year-old this season but Horford looked every bit his age against the Pacers. The big man missed nine of his first ten shots of the game, including all eight from 3-point range. He also provided very limited defensive resistance in the paint as the Pacers guards feasted against him during switches for much of the night. With Kristaps Porzingis still hobbled with an ankle injury, the Celtics are asking a lot out of Horford most nights and he wasn’t able to deliver in this one in a very tough defensive night against the Pacers speed. Horford finished with just five points on 2-of-12 shooting from the field.
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