2 Duds, 1 stud from Indiana Pacers brutal loss to Boston Celtics

Following their impressive run in the In-Season Tournament, the Indiana Pacers went on a cold stretch. But then they got hot again, winning six games in a row.

Unfortunately, their winning ways came to an end on Saturday night, as they suffered a tough loss at the hands of the Boston Celtics by a score of 118-101.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown absolutely torched the Pacers, as Indiana failed to find an answer for either one of them all night long. Tatum poured in buckets from the perimeter while Brown dominated the paint.

It was an ugly loss, so let’s take a look at two duds and one stud from the Pacers’ defeat against the Celtics on Saturday night.

Dud - Aaron Nesmith

This placement as a dud is a bit unfair to Aaron Nesmith, who played with amazing intensity against the Celtics. He even topped off his night with a great highlight dunk over Derrick White.

Unfortunately, Nesmith was tasked with guarding Tatum for a big part of the night, and he simply couldn’t keep up. Tatum was on fire all game, and nobody was able to stop him.

To make matters worse, Nesmith had a terrible offensive game. He ended the night with eight points, four rebounds, three steals, and one block but shot just 3-of-13 from the field and 0-of-7 from behind the three-point line.

Nesmith is often tasked with being the Pacers’ top perimeter defender, and he’s done a solid job in that role. But on Saturday night, Tatum was just too much for him to deal with.