By Darryl Harding Sr –
In a game that could arguably be called the most exciting game in the postseason thus far and only the third game to go to overtime, the Celtics managed to ease by the Pacers 133 – 128. Boston managed to take Game 1 on the home court in TD Garden despite the fact that seven of the Indiana Pacers were in double figures, with three of them scoring over 20 points.
Without Kristaps Porzingis, the Celtics were in jeopardy of letting Indiana, a very fast paced scoring team, run away with it and if it hadn’t been for a Celtics 12-0 lead to begin the game, things could have gotten rough. A double-double from Tyrese Halliburton of 25 points and 10 rebounds, was surmounted by Jason Tatum’s double-double of 36 points and 12 rebounds.
Surprisingly a season High of 28 points was collected by Jrue Holiday, who consistently provided for the Celtics on both ends of the court. This defense performance was the key considering these evenly matched high scoring teams and the only category that showed a large margin were turnovers.
For all intents and purposes Indiana should have won Game 1 but staunch Celtic defense and key Pacer turnovers, towards the end of regulation, gave Boston a chance to tie it down by three, with 8.5 seconds left. It was then that Jaylen Brown succeeded and hitting his first three pointer made with 10 seconds left in regulation, tying the game and bringing it into overtime.
At this point Tatum, scoring 10 points in the overtime, went to work. With these two teams being the two highest scoring teams all season, it will be which team can get the stops on defense that will procure the win in this series. During the season the Celtics may have gotten used to blowing out opponents with their high production of points but with two quarters scoring 30+ points, the Indiana Pacers can do just that, “keep pace.”
Fans anxiously await game 2 which in both previous series have proven disastrous for the Boston Celtics. They attempt to maintain home court advantage and head to Indiana with the two-game cushion. Game 2 is Thursday night at 8:00 at the TD Garden.