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.
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.
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.