20 Second Timeout

Pacers Squander Late Lead, Celtics Win in Overtime to Take 1-0 Eastern Conference Finals Lead

Jaylen Brown saved the Boston Celtics by drilling a game-tying three pointer with 6.1 seconds remaining in regulation, and then Jayson Tatum poured in 10 points in overtime as the Celtics escaped with a 133-128 win over the Indiana Pacers in game one of the Eastern Conference Finals. Brown and Tatum stepped up when the Celtics needed them the most, but they only had those opportunities because of two disastrous miscues committed by the Pacers, who fumbled away a great chance to win on the road against the Eastern Conference's number one seeded team: the Pacers had two turnovers in the final 27.7 seconds of regulation while clinging to a three point lead; first Tyrese Haliburton dribbled the ball out of bounds near midcourt, and then after the Celtics missed two field goals Andrew Nembhard threw the inbounds pass out of bounds to set up Brown's shot. After the game, Indiana Coach Rick Carlisle said, "This loss is totally on me. With 10 seconds in regulation, we should've just taken the timeout, advanced the ball, found a way to get it in, made a free throw or two, and ended the game."

Tatum scored a game-high 36 points while also grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds, passing for four assists, and swiping three steals. This was Tatum's fourth career playoff game with at least 35 points and at least 10 rebounds, tying John Havlicek for second in the Celtics' storied history behind only Larry Bird, who had 10 such games. Jrue Holiday added 28 points (his high game since joining the Celtics), eight assists, and seven rebounds while playing a game-high 48 minutes. Brown had 26 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Al Horford and Derrick White scored 15 points each.

Tyrese Haliburton led the Pacers with 25 points and 10 assists. Pascal Siakam contributed 24 points, a game-high 12 rebounds, and seven assists. Myles Turner had 23 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists. Haliburton's fast pace, timely shooting, and deft passing caused major problems for Boston's highly regarded defense.

The Pacers outshot the Celtics from the field (.535 to .475), and they outrebounded the Celtics 44-43, but they committed 23 fouls to just 15 fouls by the Celtics, which led to Boston attempting 30 free throws while Indiana had just 10 free throw attempts. The Pacers had 21 turnovers while the Celtics had 14 turnovers.

After the Celtics stormed to a 12-0 lead in less than three minutes, the Pacers steadied themselves and cut the margin to 34-31 by the end of the first quarter. The Celtics built a 10 point second quarter lead only to settle for a 64-64 halftime tie. The third quarter was the same story as the first two quarters: the Celtics built a double digit lead--92-79 with 3:23 remaining--only to give away their advantage and cling to a 94-93 lead heading into the final stanza. The fourth quarter was much more closely contested, as neither team led by more than five points. Nembhard's stepback jumper at the 1:57 mark put the Pacers ahead 115-110 and pushed the Celtics to the brink of yet another home playoff loss (a puzzling trend for a squad that has enjoyed so much playoff success in recent seasons). 

Indiana's turnovers, Brown's three pointer, and Tatum's overtime dominance are the obvious headline stories from this game, but during the telecast Doris Burke pointed out a key matchup that the Pacers exploited: the Pacers ran their late-game offense in a way that forced Horford to guard a smaller player in the open floor, and Horford struggled when placed on an island in that fashion. The cliched response in today's NBA is too often to simply bench an "unplayable" big man, but I would suggest that the Celtics would be better served by trapping those screening actions and then rotating (instead of consenting to switches that leave Horford isolated against smaller, quicker players). The Celtics must figure out some counter to this action for at least the next two games, and then hope that Kristaps Porzingis not only returns for game four but that he is mobile enough to impact the game at both ends of the court. Porzingis was a major part of Boston's regular season success, and it would be silly to pretend that his absence has no impact.

During ESPN's pregame show, Bob Myers declared that this series will be closer than many expect; if game one is any indication, he may be correct. He also noted that no matter what happens in game one the media will overreact, as if the winning team will never lose again and the losing team will never win again; I made the same point recently: The NBA playoffs are about matchups, not momentum.

Labels: Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton

posted by David Friedman @ 1:33 AM

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