'We played great for about 47 minutes': Pacers give away Game 1 of Conference Finals

The Pacers led late in their Game 1 loss

May 21, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) grabs the ball against Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) in over-time during game one of the eastern conference finals for the 2024 NBA playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

BOSTON — The Indiana Pacers felt like they had it. With under two minutes to go in their first Eastern Conference Finals game against the Boston Celtics, they were ahead by five. All they had to do was make a few plays and they would escape TD Garden with a win.

Instead, they missed three shots and had two painful, perplexing turnovers in the last 79 seconds of play. A single basket or point before the final seconds would have given Indiana a chance to seal the deal at the foul line. Instead, they gave their chance away — literally — as Boston evened up the score down the stretch.

"We played great for about 47 minutes," Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton said after the game. "We just didn't sustain it for 48."

Pascal Siakam missed a jumper, and he had been reliable throughout the second half. Haliburton, who had a dazzling outing, missed two. That gave the Celtics a window to at least chip at the lead, and they did.

Yet they still trailed in the final 30 seconds, and Indiana had the ball. Over the next 20 seconds, Haliburton lost the ball off of his foot with a dribble, and it trickled out of bounds. Later, Andrew Nembhard inbounded the ball toward Siakam, and it was tipped out of bounds off of the Pacers. The Celtics couldn't capitalize on those errors for most of the final stretch, but Jaylen Brown tied the game and sent it to overtime with an epic three-point shot in the closing seconds.

The Pacers lost in the extra period. They lost to Boston, but they felt like they beat themselves with their many errors throughout the night. "We felt like we were in position to win the game," Haliburton said.

In the final box score, the Pacers shot a better percentage from the field (53.5%) than the Celtics (47.5%). The visitors were more accurate from deep and won the rebounding battle. Despite having far fewer attempts (which was discussed), Indiana was more precise from the charity stripe. They were only one block behind Boston. Statistically, the blue and gold were superior in many categories.

Yet they lost because of their self-inflicted issues. Indiana finished the game with 21 turnovers, their high mark in the playoffs by far. They have only been over 14 turnovers in a postseason outing twice this season, and Tuesday night was their first time over 20. That gave the Celtics many extra chances — the hosts were even in shot attempts with the Pacers while taking 20 more foul shots, and Boston scored 32 points off turnovers in the victory.

"A lot of turnovers, unforced turnovers too," forward Pascal Siakam said after the game. "We don't turn the ball over much. We' ve got to do better than that as a team."

What frustrated the Pacers is that many of their turnovers were unforced and atypical. The ball will get coughed up throughout a game, that's natural. Indiana was 10th-best at taking care of the rock during the regular season as they gave up 12.9 turnovers per game. But in Game 1, they had the worst kind of turnovers. Head coach Rick Carlisle laid out that many of them were early in the shot clock. Others acknowledged that they were unforced and a result of sloppy play. It wasn't that the Celtics were aggressive and trying to force the Pacers to mess up — Indiana made the mistakes on their own.

The blue and gold had a losing record when they had more than 15 turnovers during the regular season. They were 14-6 when they had fewer than 10. The Pacers know the value of taking care of the ball, but they didn't do it on Tuesday. It cost them and was a major factor during the game's biggest moments.

It wasn't the Pacers only issue in the outing. They also fouled like crazy — 23 times, to be exact. It was their third-most infractions during a game in this postseason, and the Celtics made the second-most free throws of any Indiana opponent in the playoffs so far.

Boston has many great individual talents on the offensive end. They are hard to guard. But they don't have a roster that draws a ton of fouls — in fact, Celtics opponents ranked 30th in the NBA with 17.3 fouls per game during the regular season. The Pacers need to be more careful on the defensive end and avoid fouling when possible, especially against a roster full of terrific individual scorers.

"They're all All-Stars. That's a special group of guys," Haliburton said of the Celtics opening lineup and how difficult they can be to guard.

Indiana's final missteps were three key sequences. They started off the game down 12-0 in under three minutes, and they gave up another big run — 13-0 — across 3:05 during the third quarter. Those two stretches were crushing, though the Pacers quickly responded to both.

They couldn't respond to their final poor stretch of play, which came in the overtime period. In that five minutes, the Pacers went 2/8 from the field, had three more turnovers as well as six more fouls, and were crushed on the glass. They played the Celtics well until that bonus frame. At the end, they tripped all over themselves.

That extra five minutes — combined with the turnovers, fouls, and dreadful final minute or regulation — led to a painful Pacers loss. They felt like they had it, but they now trail 0-1 in the series and have a smaller margin for error going forward.

"When you have 21 turnovers... we showed our age a little bit tonight," Pacers center Myles Turner said. "Those uncharacteristic mistakes made their way out." Indiana will try to correct those mistakes in Game 2 on Thursday.

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• Indiana Pacers can't overcome turnovers and lose Conference Finals Game 1 to Boston Celtics. CLICK HERE.
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