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With the fourth-seeded Celtics having
successfully held serve on their home court to go up 2-0 in the
best-of-seven set, the fifth-seeded Pacers will host Games 3 and
4 on Friday night and Sunday afternoon.
Indiana blew a 12-point, fourth-quarter lead. However, the
Pacers appeared primed to even the series when Wesley Matthews
and Bojan Bogdanovic combined for three 3-pointers in a
70-second spurt, allowing Indiana to retake a 91-89 advantage
with 2:16 to go.
But the Pacers didn't score again, and the Celtics finally did
when Tatum drilled his third 3-pointer of the game for a
one-point lead in the final minute.
After Matthews couldn't connect on a 3-point try at the Indiana
end, Gordon Hayward dropped in a layup with 12.1 seconds
remaining to increase the Boston lead to 94-91.
The Pacers then turned over the ball with a chance to tie, and
the Celtics pulled away with a three-point play by Tatum and two
late free throws by Hayward.
The Celtics scored the game's final 10 points.
Kyrie Irving, who sparked an earlier fourth-quarter comeback,
finished with a game-high 37 points for the Celtics, who won the
opener 84-74 on Sunday.
Tatum totaled 26 while Hayward added 13.
Boston forward Al Horford, who had been iffy for the game after
missing the morning shootaround due to an illness, was able to
put in 37 minutes, contributing a game-high 10 rebounds and four
points to the win.
Bogdanovic used four 3-pointers as the base for his team-high 23
points for the Pacers, who outscored the Celtics 39-33 from
beyond the arc.
Thaddeus Young chipped in with 15 points, while Darren Collison
and Tyreke Evans had 13 apiece for Indiana.
The Pacers led for most of the first three quarters, going up by
as many as eight in the first half and by 12, 77-65, on a Myles
Turner shot with 1:04 remaining in the third period.
Evans made it a 12-point game again with a 3-pointer 40 seconds
into the final period before Boston tightened the screws
defensively and scored the game's next 16 points to go up 86-82.
Irving hit consecutive 3-pointers, the second of which put the
Celtics ahead, and then dropped in a 2-pointer to increase the
lead to four.
Matthews ended a nearly eight-minute Indiana drought with a
3-pointer with 3:26 to play to get the Pacers back within one
and set up the tight finish.
--Field Level Media
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