Jayson Tatum led the way with 36 points – including 10 in overtime alone – as the Boston Celtics clawed back from the brink of an early defeat. Indiana’s late-game mistakes painfully saw Boston snatch victory in the first of a possible seven-game series during their intriguing Eastern Conference Final matchup.
Turner: We showed our age a little bit
- Boston guard Jrue Holiday, who posted a season-high 28 points: “I think we always knew there’s always a chance, we’ve seen crazy stuff happen all the time. That’s part of the reason why we were so resilient.”
- Time to make a statement? Celtics have lost Game 2 in each of their last two series, and naturally they’re now looking to guard against complacency after snatching this one from the jaws of defeat
- Rick Carlisle, Tyrese Haliburton accept accountability for narrow loss after latter’s two turnovers – one in regulation, another during overtime – while many questioned their decision not to quickly foul when up three
INEXPERIENCE when the lights are brightest came back to haunt Indiana, who made a series of late-game errors in crunch time to hand the initiative back into the hands of their grateful hosts Boston and relinquish a promising position to begin this season’s Eastern Conference Finals with a forgettable 133-128 overtime defeat.
27.1 seconds left and with a three-point lead in their pocket, All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton accidentally dribbled the ball off his foot for a costly turnover and despite getting a defensive stop on the subsequent play, an errant Andrew Nembhard inbounds pass gave Jaylen Brown the green light for a decisive corner triple.
“We know we can play with these guys, we belong, it’s discouraging just because of the plays that happened down the stretch – we were in position to win and just didn’t.”
- Haliburton (25 pts and 6-of-8 3PM, 10 assists, 3 steals) after Game 1
Head coach Rick Carlisle told reporters postgame that “a lot of things had to go wrong for us and right for them” and this proved true. Myles Turner, who feasted on both ends of the ball with Kristaps Porzingis (calf) still sidelined, conceded his team collectively showed their age with uncharacteristic mistakes in a high-stakes game.
Carlisle was careful not to be too critical of Game 1 officiating, having been fined $35,000 for comments made during their seven-game New York series.
He joked that his daughter has to sit out one college semester and he wouldn’t want her taking the whole year off to pay for further transgressions.
Boston had three times as many free-throw attempts (30 to 10) in a game of fine margins and naturally, that detail is easy to spot particularly at a time where another small-market team has exceeded expectations to reach the postseason’s final four like Indiana (beat Milwaukee, then New York) has successfully managed.
“Game 1 being close going into overtime they certainly feel like they probably should have won and we feel we can play a lot better, so I’m excited for us to come out and respond – do a better job of protecting home court than we have recently.”
- Tatum’s excited about the chance for a 2-0 lead
Game 2 takes place overnight Thursday at Boston’s TD Garden, with the Pacers hoping to travel home having split the series. Will they?
Picture source: Getty Images
Mo and Sports 