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How the Celtics earned an OT win over the Pacers in Game 1 - The New York Times

By Jared Weiss, Jay King, Eric Nehm, James Boyd and Tobias Bass

In only the third overtime game of the NBA playoffs, the Boston Celtics outlasted the Indiana Pacers to take Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals 133-128 on Tuesday night.

Boston outscored Indiana 16-11 in overtime to survive. Jaylen Brown hit a corner 3 with 5.7 seconds left to tie it and send it to overtime after Indiana took a lead late.

Though the Pacers had that lead, they started off the game as poorly as one could imagine, as Boston opened the evening on a 12-0 run. Indiana came roaring back, however, with 22 first-half assists and tied things up at 64 going into halftime on a Tyrese Haliburton 3.

Jayson Tatum (36 points, 12 rebounds and four assists), Brown (26 points, seven rebounds and five assists) and Jrue Holiday (28 points, eight assists, seven rebounds) led the way for Boston.

Indiana’s big three all scored over 20 points, led by Haliburton (25 points, 10 assists, three rebounds) and Pascal Siakam (24 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists). The Pacers will look to tie the series up at 8 p.m. ET Thursday in Boston.

Slow and steady wins the game?

The Celtics have been playing a slow tempo on their postseason run against teams with depleted offenses. Things are different now. The Pacers don’t just run off makes or love to fast break. They have a flow and side-to-side movement to their half-court offense that makes it hard for the Celtics to keep up at times.

Indiana had 38 assists Tuesday, providing a blur of ball movement and knockdown midrange shooting whenever things slowed down. But it wasn’t until Boston was able to slow things down and get physical in overtime that the Celtics truly looked like themselves.

It’s apparent Indiana is going to test the Celtics to maintain their identity throughout this series, as Boston made some rushed mistakes trying to keep up with Indiana’s tempo. But the Pacers had 22 turnovers, and once Boston figured out how to pressure them high, the Celtics’ transition attack started to look like it usually does.

Holiday bodying up Haliburton was a key development late, and Joe Mazzulla has to decide how much he wants Holiday in that role going forward. That’s one way to push back on the identity control of this series — anything to take away Haliburton’s freedom of movement and force everyone else to be the downhill playmaker. Indiana is a worthy opponent and came impressively prepared with a defensive game plan on such short notice. Can the Pacers keep that up? The answer for Celtics opponents so far has been no. But Indiana is relatively healthy and on fire shooting the ball, so it has a chance. — Jared Weiss, Celtics staff writer

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GO DEEPER

Jayson Tatum controls crunchtime after Jaylen Brown forces OT in Boston's Game 1 win

Pacers’ offensive rhythm could give C’s problems

Before Game 1, Mazzulla called this series “a huge test” of the Celtics defense. He believed Indiana’s unpredictable spacing, constant motion and breakneck pace would present unique challenges. Throughout the regular season, nobody played faster than the Pacers. They entered Tuesday ranked first in the playoffs in offensive efficiency after finishing second, trailing only Boston, during the regular season.

After acing the test early during a powerful 12-0 start, the Celtics nearly flunked the rest. They pushed ahead by double-digits in each half but couldn’t hold onto either lead. The Pacers bench, which has been dynamite throughout the playoffs, mounted a third-quarter charge to eliminate almost all of a 13-point Boston advantage.

Haliburton banked home a 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter to cut Indiana’s deficit to 94-93, then Siakam opened up the fourth quarter with a jumper to put the Celtics behind. They responded early in the fourth but were unable to keep the Pacers’ offensive rhythm down. Siakam and Andrew Nembhard scored over Al Horford several times down the stretch, and the Celtics needed a crazy finish to regulation to force overtime.

Boston’s defense will need to lock in over the rest of the series to give itself an easier time. — Jay King, Celtics staff writer

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

Buckley: Celtics, Jaylen Brown make surprise statement with Game 1 escape

Pacers’ efforts undercut by sloppy play

The Pacers came into TD Garden ready to shock the world. They withstood multiple blows from the Celtics and played like the more composed team down the stretch to take a three-point lead with 46.8 seconds left. Then it all fell apart.

After getting a stop on defense, Haliburton raced up the floor but lost control of the ball and it dribbled away from him out of bounds. The Pacers withstood that mistake and got another stop on defense. With 10 seconds remaining, all they had to do was inbound the ball successfully and accept a foul from the Celtics to close out the game at the free-throw line. Instead, they turned it over as Nembhard tried to get the ball into Siakam. And on the ensuing play, Brown hit the corner 3 to tie the game.

In overtime, the Pacers again withstood the pressure from the Celtics to take a two-point lead with 1:46 remaining, but then Indiana committed two more turnovers and the Celtics took control. In the end, the Pacers’ sloppy play to close the game erased their strong and composed effort for the first 47:50. — Eric Nehm, Bucks senior writer

Haliburton may take some heat

Haliburton’s season changed in the blink of an eye with one slip against the Celtics on Jan. 8. The Pacers star pulled his left hamstring and was carried off the court at Gainbridge Fieldhouse with a towel over his head.

On Tuesday night, he was skipping and barking at the TD Garden fans while putting on a show against the same team in which his best season was nearly derailed. It took months for Haliburton to regain his pre-injury form, but with an NBA Finals berth on the line, there were times when he looked at the peak of his powers as the Pacers went toe-to-toe with the Celtics.

It still wasn’t enough.

Haliburton has taken some heat following a few lackluster performances throughout his first playoff run, and while he has turned a corner, he’ll take some heat for this game too. Following a strong showing in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden two nights ago, he played well against the Celtics before faltering in the game’s biggest moments. Haliburton drilled that 35-foot 3-pointer to tie the game just before halftime and banked in a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer to cut the Celtics’ lead to one point heading into the fourth. However, his 25 points, 10 assists and six 3s were all for naught. — James Boyd, Colts staff writer 

Required reading

(Photo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)

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