The Celtics managed to stave off the Pacers in Game 1, finishing with a score of 84-74. Neither team really found a rhythm offensively, which may have been a sign of good defense, but was likely a sign of poor offense. The surprising Pacers will get another shot tonight in Game 2 – do they even up the series heading back to Indy or does Boston take a dominant series lead?
[5] Indiana Pacers (0-1) @ [4] Boston Celtics (1-0)
Nobody played spectacularly on either side. Indiana’s starters combined for just 38 points, while Boston’s bench scored 35 by themselves. The Pacers would’ve had a decent shot to win in Game 1, but they followed up a decent first half with just 8 points in the 3rd quarter. Without their bonafide star, who can Indiana turn to for consistent production?
Indiana
The Pacers lead by 7 going into halftime, but their collapse in the 3rd quarter was too much to overcome. Bogdanovic wasn’t raining down his threes, and Sabonis wasn’t able to work his magic in the post. To be fair, it seemed like nobody could hit a shot for the Pacers. The bar is set quite low for them to improve upon tonight.
- 28-84 (33.3%) shooting from the field, 6-27 (22.2%) from downtown, and 12-21 (57.1%) from the free throw line in Game 1. Absolutely brutal across the board.
- As a team, they had just 42 rebounds compared to 55 from Boston. They did have 13 turnovers compared to 17 for the Celtics though.
- Myles Turner finished with 5 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block on 2-6 shooting. The center must have a better game tonight if Indy has any chance.
Boston
The Celtics certainly didn’t look like a strong team, but they did just enough of the right things at the right time to pull away with a victory. They shot the ball pretty bad and didn’t do a great job of passing. The Celtics look strikingly similar to how they played during the regular season, something that won’t do them any favors beyond this series.
- 28-77 (36.4%) from the field, 10-28 (35.7%) from three, and 18-22 (81.8%) from the free throw line in Game 1. Decent numbers aside from overall percentage.
- Too much iso ball! The Celtics had just 18 assists to 22 for the Pacers.
- Kyrie Irving finished with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals on 6-17 shooting. Fairly solid all around game despite a poor shooting percentage.
Pick: Boston Celtics -7.5
Indiana already had the short end of the stick coming into this series. Without Victor Oladipo, this Pacers team overachieved all season. Now we’re in the playoffs and fatigue is starting to set in for role players that overperformed. Bogdanovic is missing his legs and the Pacers just can’t seem to score. The only reason Indiana has a chance in this series is because Boston isn’t playing as team and likely won’t with this roster. But playing tonight in Boston isn’t the right storm for Indy to steal a game. Expect Boston to win tonight.
