4 stats that defined the Pacers-Celtics matchups this season

6 missed games between the Celtics and Pacers

While most of the rosters were healthy for the four games, the Pacers were missing a starter in four of the games whereas the Celtics were missing two of their part-time starters.

Myles Turner, Darren Collison each missed a game with an injury and of course, Victor Oladipo couldn’t play in the last two meetings. On Boston’s side, Aron Baynes and Jaylen Brown each missed a game.

While none of this nullifies the other statistics, it’s worth noting that Indiana hasn’t been at full strength in most of these games. Even if you throw out Oladipo’s absence, missing Collison or Turner doesn’t make things any easier for Indiana.

In Turner’s absence, the Pacers were hammered on the defensive end. Without Collison, the starters struggled to get into their normal flow of things while the bench missed out on Cory Joseph’s defense.

I’m not about to say they would have won any more of these games, but when looking at the matchups, it does skew the statistics a bit. Nothing about this takes away from Boston being the clear favorite in the series, but I don’t look at the 1-3 record Indiana had this season against them as 100% pure.

The Pacers need something special from Bojan Bogdanovic and Turner every game of this series if they want to stand a chance. Whether it’s Bojan dropping 30 or Myles getting hot from the 3-point line, Indiana will need more than they’ve usually got from either of them. That or a surprise performance from Collison, Wesley Matthews, or Thaddeus Young.

But as much as injuries already played a role in the series, Boston’s Marcus Smart’s expected prolonged absence adds a bit of chaos to the series.