The Boston Celtics lead 2-0 in the Eastern Conference finals after a 126-110 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 2 on Thursday night. Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 40 points, and Boston led for most of the game after a big run to start the second quarter. Jayson Tatum came alive in the second half to add 23 points for Boston. For the Pacers, they return to Indiana with a 2-0 series deficit and an injured point guard.
Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton was ruled out of Game 2 in the second half and is dealing with a hamstring injury. Haliburton had 10 points and eight assists in 27 minutes before going out. Pascal Siakam scored a Pacers-high 28 points on 13-of-17 shooting. Indiana led after the first quarter, but suffered a long drought that saw the Celtics score 20 unanswered points.
The Celtics are two wins away from their second trip to the NBA Finals in three seasons, while the Pacers are in familiar territory. Indiana lost its first two road games against the Knicks in the second round of this playoffs before winning four of the last five to oust New York. Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where the Pacers have not lost in the playoffs.
Here are some key takeaways from the game:
Brown says big night not inspired by All-NBA snub
Jaylen Brown saved the Celtics in Game 1 with the biggest shot of his career, and followed that up with one of his best playoff performances. It happened a day after he was just short of succeeding All-NBA teamswhich Boston goalie Derrick White called “a big snub.”
Brown, however, said he took no additional motivation from the vote results. “We’re two games away from the final, so honestly, I don’t have time to care,” Brown said after game.
Less than a minute into the game, Brown made a 3-pointer after a Celtics offensive rebound and never looked back. He finished with 40 points on 14-of-27 shooting from the field to tie his career playoff high and his own mark for the second-highest scoring game by a Celtic in Eastern Conference Finals history.
Playing against the porous Pacers certainly helps, but this is a major rebound from Brown, who was terrible in this round last season against the Miami Heat. He averaged just 19 points per game and shot 41.8 percent from the field, which was a big reason why the Celtics were upset by the No. 8 seed. Through two games in this series, he has put up 66 points on 51.1% shooting and is halfway to his point total for the entire series against Miami.
Celtics offense on track in second half
The Celtics have been one of the league’s best offensive teams all season long, and they showed why in the second half with 24 dominant minutes of basketball in which they punished the Pacers’ lack of rim protection , reached the free throw line and caught fire behind the arc.
They shot 26 of 40 from the field, including 9 of 19 from downtown, and turned it over only three times. While the Celtics may be prone to lackadaisical stretches where they stand around and are careless with the ball, we saw none of that after the break. A two-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, when they had already taken a 17-point lead, was their longest drought of the half.
The Pacers actually scored 59 points on 53.5% shooting in the second half and were still outscored by 10 points during that stretch.
Haliburton leaves with hamstring injury
Nobody thought much about Tyrese Haliburton leaving the game late in the third quarter, but when he still hadn’t returned midway through the fourth, everyone started asking questions. It turned out he came away with left hamstring soreness. It’s the same hamstring that has been bothering him since January.
It appears he injured his hamstring on a fairly innocuous play in the third while trying to guard Jayson Tatum.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said Haliburton’s hamstring was bothering him at halftime, but his star point guard wanted to take his chances in the second half.
“He took a chance and gave it all he could,” Carlisle said. “It wasn’t going well. So the coaches decided he needed to go to the back and get to work.”
It’s too early to know Haliburton’s status for Game 3 in Indianapolis on Saturday, but even if he plays, it will be bad news for the Pacers. He tried to play through his injury at the end of the regular season and was much less effective than at the start of the season. The Pacers are already struggling 2-0, and it will be extremely difficult for them to come back if Haliburton isn’t at his best.
