Banner Town Breakdown: Celtics Take Down Indy with an Energy Boost from Pritchard
Photo by Ron Hoskins | NBAE via Getty Images
With Boston coming off a heartbreaker against the Pacers, the team looked to right the ship in their 2nd road game in Indiana. Boston will have a quick turnaround and face off against the shorthanded Grizzlies tomorrow night. The biggest culprit in the last game for the Celtics was turnovers and an overall failure to execute. Regardless of growing pains, Boston cannot be dropping winnable games, especially when their opponents are shorthanded.
The starting lineup is essentially the same, with the tweak of Tristan Thompson at the 4 and Daniel Theis at the 5. The Pacers saw the return of star Victor Oladipo, and Boston had the absences of Walker (knee strengthening), Langford (wrist surgery recovery), and Tacko Fall (eye irritation). Fortunately, Marcus Smart was healthy and good to play after a shoulder injury late last game.
Boston and Indiana both started off well from the field and played with intensity on both sides of the ball. Boston shot 3/6 from range but made a concerted effort to attack underneath the basket, shooting 5/11 in the restricted area. The Pacers shot early and often from range, shooting 6/12 from range. The Celtics still haven’t shaken their turnover issues just yet, finishing the quarter with 4 turnovers. After one, Boston lead Indiana 31-26.
The teams continued to go back and forth, with Boston giving up another 3 turnovers (7 on the game so far). However, Boston has made a point of attacking the paint (28 points in the paint by the end of the half) and creating 2nd chance opportunities, scoring 10 points off 2nd chance buckets compared to 0 from Indiana. Jaylen Brown continues to showcase, shooting 4/7 on the half with 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 2 steals. Jayson Tatum seemed to be having a better night, shooting 4/9 from the field with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Payton Pritchard continues to add to his reputation, shooting 2/2 from the field along with 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Boston wrapped up the half up 58-57, with Indiana being led by Victor Oladipo (13 points on 6/10 shooting), Malcolm Brogdon (12 points on 5/8 shooting, 3 ast), and Myles Turner (a perfect 4/4 from the field, 2/2 from deep and 3 reb, 1 stl).
The turnovers continued to be an issue and the Pacers surged in the 3rd quarter. After cutting a 7 point lead down to two, Boston started to slip up and Indiana’s lead ballooned to 17 with a few minutes left in the 4th quarter. Through three quarters, Boston gave up 11 turnovers and Indiana scored 16 points off those alone. Boston started to play a bit better to close the lead to 11 at the end of the quarter, 94-83. Boston’s bench had been a bright spot with 26 points going into the 4th quarter. Even then, the Celtics were outscored 37 to 25 in the 3rd, and 31 to 27 in the 2nd.
Boston continued to build on the momentum they closed the 3rd quarter with, and across 7 minutes ripped off a 26-6 run to pull ahead of Indiana 109-100 with roughly 4 minutes left to play. Both teams continued to scrap it out, and eventually it was a 111-109 game in Boston’s favor with the Pacers inbounding the ball. Jaylen Brown came up with the steal, finished it with a layup and the game was essentially over. Boston sealed up the win 116-111 with an impressive comeback and closed out in dramatic fashion.
Boston was led by Jayson Tatum with 27 points (9/17 shooting, 1/3 from range, 11 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl), who made a noticeable effort to drive more, resulting in Tatum shooting 8/10 from the free-throw line. Jaylen Brown had an efficient 20 points (7/13 shooting, 2 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl). Payton Prichard had another great outing with 10 points (4/8 shooting, 2/3 FT, 5 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl) and Tristan Thompson had arguably his best game as a Celtic with a double-double (14 points on 5/7 shooting, 4/4 FT, 10 reb, 1 ast). The Pacers were led by Victor Oladiphttps://twitter.com/CullerSports/status/1344087886501736451?s=20o with 24 points (10/18 shooting, 6 reb, 6 ast, 1 blk), TJ Warren with 17 points (7/13 shooting, 2 reb, 1 stl) and Malcolm Brogdon with 19 points (7/15 shooting, 3/9 from deep, 3 reb, 7 ast).
The Celtics still struggled with turnovers again, and despite their continued 3rd quarter collapses, Boston managed to pull a win out against a tough Pacers team. Payton Pritchard continues to flash and push the pace, and his energy is contagious whenever he gets playing time. Javonte Green had good minutes, and Rob Williams shot 4/4 from the field with 5 rebounds as well. The team still needs to work on better execution, but once the ball kept moving and they kept attacking, Boston created opportunities and capitalized on them. Boston will have their first back-to-back tomorrow in Boston against a significantly-injured Memphis, 7:30 PM EST.
