Reviewing last 5 Pacers vs. Celtics matchups ahead of next game

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.

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.

Matchup 1: The Celtics get an up close and personal look at new Pacers

Let’s start with the first matchup, which occurred on February 27, 2022, just 19 days after the Pacers made the trade for Tyrese Haliburton, sending Domantas Sabonis to the Sacramento Kings.

In just his sixth game for Indiana, Haliburton showed why the Pacers traded a haul for him, as he put up 22 points and nine assists en route to his second win in a Pacers uniform. However, despite a fantastic performance, Haliburton was not the story of the game.

That would belong to former Pacer and current Celtic Oshae Brissett. In one of the highest-scoring games of his career against the contending Celtics, Brissett showed the league what he was made of, leading the team with 27 points on 6/9 from beyond the arc.

Brissett was doing it all scoring-wise on the night, hitting fancy layups and three-pointers and taking it strong to the rim with crafty behind-the-back dribbles.

In fact, Brissett was so hot that at one point, he hit a corner three and turned around and looked at the Pacers fans before it even went in, reminiscent of Stephen Curry.

In addition to Brissett and Haliburton’s nights, former Pacer and Celtic Malcolm Brogdon chipped in 20 points of his own to help the lottery-bound Pacers (without Myles Turner) defeat the eventual eastern conference champion Celtics 107-128, a surprising 21-point blowout over an unquestionably superior team.

Matchup 2: Tyrese Haliburton helps a weaker lineup keep pace

Sixteen games and a little over a month later, the Pacers faced the Celtics on April 1 for the final time in the 2022 season and one of the final games of the season overall.

While it had been only about a month since their last matchup, the Pacers lineup looked quite different, as they started Goga Bitadze and Terry Taylor alongside Haliburton, Brissett, and Buddy Hield against Boston, who only played eight players on the night.

Despite this relatively weaker lineup, the Pacers still kept pace with the Celtics but couldn’t recover from a 37-point Boston first quarter. They eventually lost 123-128 in one of the best games of the season.

The main reason for this surprisingly competitive game from Indiana boils down to one man: Tyrese Haliburton. On a night where he only had two assists and his teammates weren’t shooting the best from the field, save for Jalen Smith and Lance Stephenson, Haliburton dialed up the scoring and efficiency to a level we don’t usually see from him.

Not only would Haliburton score 30 points on the night, but he would only miss one shot along the way, shooting 10/11 from the field and a perfect 6/6 from 3-point range. On top of that, he would do all this in only 25 minutes due to fouling out later in the game.

While Jalen Smith and Lance Stephenson also contributed well, adding 17/6 and 11 points and 11 assists, respectively, the spotlight was all on Haliburton, as he showed exactly what he could do by almost leading a shorthanded Pacers team to victory against a relatively healthy Celtics team.

Matchup 3: Tyrese Haliburton outdoes himself in a rousing victory

Going into the 2022-23 season, the first Pacers/Celtics matchup of the season came early, on December 21, 2022, the 30th game of the season for Indiana. Surprisingly, the 16-16 Pacers came away 1-0 in the season series early, winning 117-112 against a 22-12 Celtics team at full strength.

Once again, it was Tyrese Haliburton at the center of attention, as he outdid his previous scoring performance with 33 points and eight assists. Haliburton was pretty efficient from the field again, shooting 12/24 from the field and 6/13 from deep as he helped lead the Pacers to an early season feel-good win against Boston, further boosting playoff hopes at the time.

Perhaps this had a little to do with Haliburton receiving some all-too-familiar criticism from Wally Szczerbiak a short while earlier.

In addition to Haliburton, former Celtic Aaron Nesmith played well in his return to Boston, finishing second on the team in scoring with 15 points on 6/13 shooting in a little revenge game against the Celtics, who traded him a few months earlier to acquire Malcolm Brogdon.

While Boston put up an admirable performance in front of their home fans, led by 41 points from Jayson Tatum, it wasn’t enough in the end, as the Pacers still squeaked by.

Matchup 4: Myles Turner makes history in thriller OT loss

Following that rousing win, Indiana and Boston would have to wait an additional two months, February 23, 2023, to be exact, before seeing each other again.

This game was arguably the most exciting of the past few years, as the two teams were finally at full health and had a game for the ages, to say the least. Neither team could pull away in regulation, so overtime was needed, where Jayson Tatum’s late-game heroics allowed the Celtics to come away with a close 142-138 win in OT.

However, despite the Celtics win, one name stood out over all the rest, even the ones on the winning team, and that name was Myles Turner.

For some backstory, Myles Turner has had quite a history with the Celtics. Ever since 2018, Turner’s name has been brought up in trade talks, and the Celtics have by far been the most active team in said trade talks.

In fact, Turner became dangerously close to being traded to Boston in the 2020 offseason, only avoid a trade because Gordon Hayward, Indiana’s presumed return player, signed with the Charlotte Hornets instead.

Ever since this almost-trade, there has been a small hint of beef between Turner and various Celtics fans and reporters, which Myles himself has sometimes taken the time to respond to.

Turner’s performance against Boston on this night did not leave much to be criticized, however, as he matched his career-high with 40 points on the night, shooting 13/15 from the field and 8/10 from behind the line, becoming the first center in NBA history to ever do so.

Yes, you heard that right. Myles Turner, a center whom most have criticized in recent years for not being as aggressive on offense as he should be, put up 40 points on the Celtics’ defense with other-worldly efficiency.

In fact, this night for Myles made history in more ways than one, as he also recorded the most efficient 40-point game in NBA history, getting his points on 110.6% true shooting

This might have been the perfect late-season game for a lottery-bound Pacers team, as they played hard against a contender, lost a close one, thus helping their lottery standings, but also had a historic performance by one of their most important players. This game will definitely go down as one of the most memorable ones in recent Pacers history, despite the loss.

Matchup 5: Playoff-bound Celtics crush lottery-bound Pacers by 25

The Pacers and Celtics would face off for the final time in the 2023 season on March 24, 2023, in one of the last games of the season. This game was undoubtedly the least memorable Pacers/Celtics matchup of the Tyrese Haliburton era, as the fully lottery-bound Pacers lost by 25 to a determined, playoff-minded Celtics team 95-120 behind a combined 61 points from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

This game was relatively unremarkable on the Pacers side, as while Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner both put up an efficient 20 points, and TJ McConnell and Isaiah Jackson added 10 and 12 off the bench, respectively, nobody else really showed up to play, and the box score reflected that.

Two points on 1/4 shooting and three turnovers for Bennedict Mathurin in one of his worst games as a pro wasn’t a great sign, and neither was eight points on 2/9 shooting for Buddy Hield. Overall, this was probably one of the more forgettable games in recent Pacers memory as their focus was solely on the upcoming draft lottery and offseason, and winning games was probably the last thing on the team’s mind.

As we have seen, four out of the last five Pacers/Celtics matchups have been barnburners, with the exception of the most recent one in which the Pacers were not exactly looking for a win.

Hopefully, Wednesday’s matchup brings more of the same, provided that Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin can play.

Otherwise, we may be in for a long night.