Indiana Pacers six-game winning streak snapped by impressive Boston Celtics defense

The Pacers hosted the Celtics on Saturday night

The Indiana Pacers hosted the Boston Celtics on Saturday night in a clash of two in-form Eastern Conference teams. The Pacers entered the game with the longest winning streak in the league while Boston had won eight of their last 10.

It was going to be a unique game in terms of matchups. Indiana recently changed their starting lineup to add more size, among other things, to their opening five. But they were missing both Andrew Nembhard and Bruce Brown on Saturday, so Jalen Smith was going to have to guard a perimeter player for the blue and gold. The Pacers were going to have a chance to exploit the smaller player containing Smith, or Myles Turner, on the other end.

The Celtics kicked the game off with a 6-0 run, but Indiana quickly made it close again. Still, it was obvious in the first five minutes of action that Boston was going to have some matchups they could punish to score easily. The Pacers needed to finish plays consistently if they were going to keep up.

But they were struggling to settle in against one of the league's top defenses, and they found themselves down 14-5 halfway through the first quarter. The Celtics looked terrific on the less glamorous end of the court early.

That continued into the later portions of the opening frame. The road team was up 21-10 with 3:18 to go in the period — at the time, the Pacers were 4/17 from the field. They couldn't score or generate good looks, which made it difficult to keep up. Indiana's chances improved when Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis went back to the locker room with an injury, though.

Jayson Tatum got going for Boston down the stretch of the opening frame, and the Celtics were ahead 29-17 after 12 minutes. It was a rare crummy offensive period for the Pacers, who never got going. Smith led the blue and gold with five points early.

The second quarter opened with strong play from the Celtics, who were able to push their lead as high as 15. Their size on the wing was giving Indiana fits, and they could always have some of it on the floor with the makeup of their roster.

But the Pacers had a response. They went on an 8-0 run in under one minute as the quarter reached its middle stage, and that trimmed the Boston advantage down to seven. Despite generally poor play from the blue and gold, they were within striking distance thanks to that sequence from their second unit.

The Celtics starters kept the Pacers at arms length for a while, but that seven-point lead hadn't changed with 3:41 to go in the first half. Indiana had to feel good about being that close on the scoreboard despite a relatively poor game to that point.

For the next two minutes, Boston dominated the action. They balloon their lead from seven to 16 in the blink of an eye, erasing any good feelings the Pacers may have had. The Celtics peak level was spectacular in the first half.

But they weren't at that level to close the half as the Pacers went on a 7-0 run heading into the break. They were down nine 58-49 at halftime, a deficit they had to be happy with given how much trouble they had scoring. Bennedict Mathurin had a team-high nine points at that point.

The second half started with a nice surge from the Pacers, who were able to get the scoring margin down to two points early in the third frame. Derrick White picked up his fourth foul for Boston during that stretch and had to check out of the game, a significant moment for the Celtics.

Boston was able to extend their lead again over the next few minutes, and the choppiness of the game was a big story up to that point. Outside of the Celtics dominating the later portions of the first quarter, neither team was able to hold momentum for significant stretches on Saturday. It was a game of runs.

The Pacers had the next run, cutting the Boston lead down to three with 3:14 on the clock in the third period. Tyrese Haliburton finally got going a bit in that period and was up to 15 points at the time. He was finding space against his matchup, which helped Indiana's offense get going.

Boston kept their advantage as the third quarter wound down. Jaylen Brown hit a tough shot to give them a two-possession lead late in the frame, but they let the Pacers stay close on the final trips down the court. It was 84-81 entering the final quarter. Brown had 26 points for the Celtics while Haliburton had 15 for the Pacers.

The fourth quarter began with a Boston run, who extended their advantage to eight points in the first few minutes of the period. Even when the Pacers had momentum, Boston was able to keep their lead and stay ahead, which is a credit to their ability to stay composed.

The road team found their groove again over the next few minutes. Tatum was finding space and making everything, scoring nine points in the first 4.5 minutes of the closing period. That got him up to 32 for the game, and the Celtics took a 15-point lead. Their defense improved again, too.

It was more of the same for the next two minutes, which favored Boston since they were up big. The Pacers were running out of time. They were down by 13 points with five minutes to go.

They weren't able to mount a comeback. Boston kept rolling and maintained their double-digit lead. They held on to win 118-101. The Celtics snapped the Pacers six-game winning streak and took a 2-1 lead in the season series.

Haliburton finished with 17 points and seven assists. Tatum had 38 points while Jaylen Brown had 31 — they were a dominant duo for Boston.

Indiana will get another shot at Boston in Indianapolis on Monday night. They will try to avenge this loss then.

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