Following a disappointing loss to the Chicago Bulls on Monday, the Indiana Pacers will look to bounce back on Wednesday against the Boston Celtics in a post-Halloween showcase between two teams that look quite different from the past season.
Surprisingly, despite the significant difference in team direction and player structure between the Pacers and Celtics, their last few matchups have been host to some fantastic games with some close finishes that have seen both teams have their moments.
Since the Tyrese Haliburton trade in February 2022, the Pacers and Celtics have matched up five times, with the Celtics winning three and the Pacers winning two, and one of each team’s wins was a blowout.
The Pacers and Celtics have built up somewhat of a rivalry in recent years despite the teams being in different positions. This is due to plenty of factors like the two teams trading players back and forth, animosity between fans due to those players, potential trades that failed to go through, and just overall tension between fans of teams in the same conference.
In fact, we saw some of that tension and animosity as recent as a few days ago, when Aaron Nesmith’s dig at Bleacher Report was taken as a shot at the Celtics by some fans, who had to then be reminded that Nesmith was angry about the media comparing his value to that of a paper clip and a piece of string.
Seeing a lot of Celtics fans upset at Aaron for this which… doesn’t make sense. https://t.co/SPmzbE9dm9
— Pull up shoot (@NElGHT_) October 29, 2023
Many other things have fueled this perceived animosity between Pacers and Celtics fans, including the Myles Turner talks from 2020. For now, we are here to discuss the recent games played between the two teams, which have mostly been nothing short of exciting.
Whenever the Pacers and Celtics step onto the same floor, you can usually expect a fantastic game and many memorable moments. Let’s take a look at the last five matchups and see if this theory adds up.