Pacers fall just short against Celtics in likely playoff preview
By William Furr
The Pacers and Celtics squared off in Boston for a game that could decide which gets home court in the 4-5 first round series they’re almost locked into. Both teams brought playoff level intensity, but the Pacers fell just short as Kyrie Irving hit a game winning with .5 seconds left.
In a game that couldn’t have been any closer, the Indiana Pacers fell just short again the Boston Celtics. While they had a chance with .5 left, Gordon Hayward just tipped the pass and Doug McDermott missed a shot that didn’t matter in the end.
With this win, the Celtics are now tied with the Pacers in record and guaranteed to have the tiebreaker should the teams finish the season tied. Indiana has now lost 10 straight on the road, and home court looms even larger. This was not one of Indy’s bad road games by any means – there’s no shame in losing to a Kyrie Irving buzzer beater – but the Pacers needed it, and couldn’t get it in the end.
100. 114. 18. Final. 112
Bojan Bogdanovic cares not at all about your pedigree
Despite facing off against Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward, and Jaylen Brown, Bogdanovic soundly outplayed all 3 on the way to a tidy 27 points. Bogey appeared to tweak an ankle late, and while he stayed in the game, he did not score again after. Bogdanovic missing time would probably be a death blow to this scrappy but offensively deficient team missing Victor Oladipo.
Thad Young does it all…
but had a brutal miss on a wide open layup with less than a minute left. Young had multiple brilliant plays in the clutch, both on offense and defense, and really is a spiritual leader for this team, but maaaaaannnn that missed bunny hurts.
The playoffs should be fun
This is almost certainly the first round matchup. While home court is yet to be decided, these teams are relatively locked into the 4-5 matchup. The Celtics lead the season series 2-1, and effectively clinched the tiebreaker with this game (check out Tony East’s breakdown here), but the Pacers have more home games and a very winnable stretch to end the season. Wherever it’s played, this should be an exciting series.
Indiana Pacers. DARREN COLLISON. C+. 12 points and 7 assists on 5-11 shooting. Collison did come around in the 2nd half after a lackluster 1st, but missed a good mid-range look (not easy by any means) in the clutch and wasn’t able to guard any Celtic on the other end of the floor.. PG
B-. Not a good game for Matthews, who suffered a knee contusion early on that he eventually returned from. 4 points on 1-5 shooting isn’t great, but Wes did play decent defense on Kyrie Irving when they matched up, and finished a team high +9.. SG. Indiana Pacers. WESLEY MATTHEWS
A. 27 ultra efficient points for Bogey, including 8-13 from the field, 4-7 from deep, and 7-9 from the line. Bogdanovic tweaked his ankle late and went a bit silent on offense after. The Pacers need to find ways to get him looks late in games; Bogey is a brilliant scorer, but his lack of foot speed can make it hard to get him going sometimes.. SF. Indiana Pacers. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC
PF. Indiana Pacers. THADDEUS YOUNG. A. 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists on 8-15 shooting. It’s hard to grade a guy who hit the biggest shot of the game for the Pacers, missed the biggest shot of the game for the Pacers, and had the biggest defensive play of the game for the Pacers. Ultimately, a really excellent Thad Young game marred by the missed bunny at the end. Bojan has stepped up to be the 1A scorer for this team, but Young is this team’s heart.
C. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER. B-. 15 points, 11 rebounds and a block for Turner in this one. Aaron Baynes beat up on Turner and the Pacers on the glass in the first half, and while they did come back, it’s hard when you dig yourself a 13 point hole early on. Baynes was a big part of that, and Turner has got to do better against these big bodied guys on the glass.
DOMANTAS SABONIS. B. 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists for Sabonis, who played very well. However, Domas picked up his 5th foul on a … questionable … offensive foul, and wasn’t heard from again. While that foul was questions, Sabonis has to be better about being available in late game situations when the Pacers need him.. C. Indiana Pacers
CORY JOSEPH. C-. 2 points on 1-4 shooting. His D on Kyrie Irving was commendable and he did have 5 assists, but he’s absolutely killing the Pacers on offense right now.. PG. Indiana Pacers
4 points and an assist on 2-6 shooting. Certainly wasn’t a McBuckets night, but being matched up against Gordon Hayward off the bench is rough sailing.. SF. Indiana Pacers. DOUG MCDERMOTT. C
PF. Indiana Pacers. TJ LEAF. A+. 12 points, 4 rebounds and a steal in a surprising 12 minutes. Leaf had been totally out of the rotation for a while, but he single handedly (no, for real) brought the Pacers back when it looked like this one might get away early on. When your 10th man is capable of dropping 10 in a row, that’s a nice luxury. Nothing more you can even ask of him
D. Evans mostly put up a dud tonight, finishing with 7 points and 4 rebounds on 3-9 shooting. He was a team worst -11, and didn’t ever seem to truly get into the game flow. Evans seemed to do his most inspired work when the Pacers were missing Collison – this forced CoJo into starting, and left Evans as the lead ball handler on the 2nd unit. The Pacers might be wise to wean some minutes away from Cory Joseph and give Tyreke more time as the guy on the 2nd unit.. SG. Indiana Pacers. TYREKE EVANS
Next. Pacers offense needs a clutch hero. dark
The Pacers play again tomorrow night, 3/29 when the host the Orlando Magic at 7PM. The Magic have won 7 of their last 10 and are currently fighting for the final playoff spot in the East.