Boston Celtics Draws First Blood in The Eastern Conference Championships Versus the Indiana Pacers 133-128
In a fight between high octane fueled offensive teams… the team who can put in steadier defense to stymie the opponent will usually win.
That’s what we got with the first victory of Boston Celtics over the Indiana Pacers in their head-to-head Eastern Conference Championship done after an overtime.
Boston is in its home court and made use of the energy of the crowd to jump to an early 12-point lead in the opening canto.
The Pacers were however relentless and in fact had a three- point advantage in the last 47 seconds of the regulation period. But bad turn overs and the inability to protect the basketball did them in. Jaylen Brown made a crucial corner three pointer with barely six seconds to send the game into overtime.
After that Jayson Tatum took over to eke out the hard-earned win (36 points 12 rebounds and 3 steals) but with plenty of support from the other Celtics.
Brown had 26 points 6 rebounds and 5 assists while Jrue Holiday chipped in 28 points 7 rebounds and 8 assists
Seven Indiana Pacers were in double figures lead by Tyrese Haliburton’s 25 and Pascal Siakam’s 24.
They shot better at 53% to Boston’s 47%.
What did them in however would be the costly turn overs (they had 22) which Boston converted to 32 points.
The last sequence of the overtime period would be a capsule of the main actors in the titanic struggle.
Up by three points already, Jayson Tatum was fouled and sent to the free throw line.
He converted both and the Pacers scrambled to get the points back.
A long pass was initiated and Boston simply did not foul.
Siakam received the ball the passed it to Tyrese Haliburton who tried a three but missed.
Boston escaped with a 133-128 win.
Both teams will surely adjust after checking out the tapes where they did not do well.
To be sure however, the high scoring offensive game will always be part of their options.
