1. Ugly Game
The Celtics were without Jaylen Brown and you could really tell. Boston had a tough time getting anything going consistently on offense and Indiana was not much better. However, the Celtics still had a chance
to win this game late in the fourth quarter despite some cold shooting. Derrick White tied the game with a layup at the 29.1 second mark, but Pascal Siakam would answer out of a Pacers timeout with a floater to take the lead again. White missed the final three-point attempt for the game and Boston starts out their road trip 0-1.
2. Three Point Shooting Difference
Boston was in this game the entire way and really could have broken it open if they were just able to hit their three pointers. The Celtics shot 9-35 (26%) from three and it really was the difference between them winning and losing. The Pacers are known for not being a great three-point shooting team and have lost two games to the Celtics this year because they got off to a hot shooting start and fell off in the second half. However in this game, Indiana was able to hit their threes at a higher clip, shooting 16-37 (43%) from beyond the arc. It is a make or miss league and in this game, the Celtics just missed too many threes.
3. Start of Third Quarter Felt Like the Turning Point
At halftime, the Celtics were winning 56-53 and it felt like with a good start to the third quarter, they could potentially start to run away with the game. However, at the 5:49 mark of the quarter, the Celtics had 2 points on 1-9 shooting with 4 turnovers and never had the lead again for the rest of the game. Indiana was able to score 15 points in that time and opened up their biggest lead of the night in the third quarter at 13 points. The Celtics would bounce back from this slow start, finishing the quarter on a 19-11 run but it really did feel like the momentum shifted to the Pacers.
4. Pritchard led the way
Coming into this game, Payton Pritchard had averaged 26.5 points and 9 assists in the 2 games that Jaylen Brown has missed this season. Pritchard once again put up a solid performance, scoring 23 points with 8 assists on 10-22 shooting.
He started the game in his bag and doing a great job facilitating the offense. In the first quarter, he got Jay Huff on an island by himself at the top of the three-point line. He hit Huff with a hesitation dribble and blew right by him to make a pass to a wide-open Luka Garza under the basket for a layup.
Pritchard had a stretch toward the end of the third quarter where he scored 9 straight points and led the Celtics to cutting the Pacers 13-point lead to 2 by the end of the quarter. His aggressiveness on getting to the basket was a big part of this explosion, like this bucket where he got a great screen from Garza and blew by Micah Potter for the layup.
5. Queta Solid Performance
Although he finished with a -12 on the night, I thought Neemias Queta had a good performance in this game, finishing with 15 points and 8 rebounds on 7-9 shooting in 32 minutes.
When the Celtics were coming back in the third quarter, Queta made this incredible play. He got the steal from Pascal Siakam and passed it ahead to Sam Hauser. Hauser passed it to Pritchard who found a streaking Queta coming down the lane for a big slam.
The other play that impressed me in this game was the poster dunk he had on Quenton Jackson. Queta slipped out of a screen from Derrick White as two Pacers defenders went for the ball. White found him and Queta unloaded this monster slam on Jackson.
6. Walsh looked confident
This season has been a breakout year for Jordan Walsh but it hasn’t always been perfect. After a stretch of 20 games in a row with him in the starting lineup, Joe Mazzulla decided to move him back to the bench on January 3rd against the Clippers and in that time, Walsh has seemingly bounced back. In the 6 games he’s played since coming back to the bench he is averaging 4.2 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting 45% from the field and 40% from three while maintaining his incredible hustle plays. Walsh finished with 6 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals on 3-5 shooting and is starting to turn back into the guy we saw at the beginning of the season when he was starting to break out.
At the end of the third quarter, Walsh made a great cut when Pritchard was stuck under the basket. Walsh got the dump off pass, pump faked, and finished with a reverse layup.
My favorite play of the night from Walsh came at the 2:16 mark of the fourth quarter. After chasing down Siakam on defense and grabbing the steal, the Celtics went the other way for a fast break. Walsh then sprinted under neath the basket where Hauser passed it in to him. Two Pacers defenders went at Walsh so once he received the pass he found a wide open Pritchard for three where he knocked it down.
Wether he goes back into the starting lineup or stays in the bench role, Walsh looks like he is getting his confidence back.
7. Celtics rough stats in the clutch
Tonight was the 20th time this season the Celtics have been in a “clutch” game this season and have fallen to a record of 8-12; that is 80% of Boston’s losses this season. The Celtics last 4 losses have also come in clutch time and it makes you wonder if the Celtics have a problem finishing close games.
You might be able to excuse this game against the Pacers since Jaylen Brown was out, but the last three losses have had Brown in the lineup. In the loss to the Trail Blazers on December 28th, they allowed Donovan Clingan to score a game winning layup off an offensive rebound. Boston then turned the ball over in back to back possessions to end the game. In the loss to the Nuggets on January 7th, Denver outscored Boston 35-28 in the fourth quarter, including a 22-6 run to begin the quarter that seemingly put the game out of reach. The Celtics tried to make a late comeback playing the free throw game but they still lost. Finally, in the loss to the Spurs on January 10th, they once again got outscored in the fourth quarter and Victor Wembanyama had his way with Boston’s defense. The Celtics had a chance to tie the game late but turnovers and missed shots ended any chance of that happening.
Coming into this game against the Pacers, the Celtics had the worst defensive rating in the NBA in clutch time this season at 128.2. Lack of execution in the fourth quarter has really been a problem and resulting in the Celtics losing a lot of close games that they arguably should be winning. The addition of Jayson Tatum in these situations might fix these problems when he gets back to full strength but as of now, these numbers are concerning.
8. Refs Calls Didn’t Really Change
After Jaylen Brown called out the refs in his postgame press conference in the Celtics loss to the Spurs on Saturday, he was fined $35,000 from the league. Did his comments change the way the Celtics were being called? Not really. Both teams were called for 7 personal fouls on the night and Boston did win the free throw differential 9-6 but it still felt like the Celtics lost the game on a pretty bad no call.
Before Pascal Siakam hit his game winner, he set what looked like an illegal screen on Derrick White. This allowed White to have to switch on Siakam and allowed him to hit the game winning floater.
Joe Mazzulla was adamant in his postgame, giving the same answer to every question he was asked saying, “illegal screen.” Watching the play back, it really does look like an illegal screen and the Pacers got away with it there. I assume Mazzulla might get fined for his comments.
9. Strengthening Brown’s MVP Case?
Jaylen Brown was ruled out for this game with Low Back Spasms and although the Celtics are 2-0 when he doesn’t play this year, they really needed him tonight. In the 2 games that Boston has played Indiana this season, Brown is averaging 30.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists on 53% shooting from the field and 44% shooting from three. In a weird way I can see this game helping strengthening an MVP case for Brown just by how much the Celtics struggled. Brown has been able to be the offensive engine for Boston all season and in crunch time, they normally turn to him to lead the Celtics to the win. But in a game where he didn’t play, the Celtics lost to the worst team in the NBA. Feels like a pretty valuable player if you ask me.
10. Celtics honor Paul Pierce
Boston has been wearing their City Jerseys this season to honor legendary moments in Celtics history. Tonight, they wore them to honor Paul Pierce’s legendary Game 4 performance in the 2003 Quarterfinals against the Pacers where he dropped 37 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists to lead Boston to the win. However, this game might be better known for play where Pierce was jawing back and forth to Al Harrington before hitting a step-back three in his face to end the third quarter with one of the most legendary calls of all time from Mike Gorman.
