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The Celtics will drop back into NBA
regular-season action Friday.
After a Jayson Tatum jumper produced the sixth and final tie of
the fourth period with 1:57 remaining, Haliburton buried his
game-changing shot at the shot-clock buzzer as Jaylen Brown was
fouling him. Haliburton's subsequent free throw put the Pacers
up 109-105.
Indiana then put the game away by scoring the game's next five
points on a Buddy Hield 3-pointer and an Aaron Nesmith dunk,
both assisted by Haliburton. Boston, meanwhile, missed three
consecutive shots, including 3-point attempts by Tatum and
Brown.
The Celtics held the upper hand for much of the first half
before the Pacers, the NBA's highest-scoring team, exploded for
37 points in the third period to go up 85-78. Haliburton had 12
of his team-high 26 points in the quarter, including two of
Indiana's six 3-pointers.
Boston drew even by Brown's 3-pointer at the 6:07 mark of the
fourth quarter.
Overall, Haliburton shot 5-for-11 from 3-point range to account
for most of his scoring for Indiana, which connected on 19 treys
and outscored the visitors 57-36 from beyond the arc.
The star guard also found time for a game-high 13 assists and a
team-high-tying 10 rebounds for his first career triple-double.
Myles Turner compiled 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers,
who earned the home court in the Eastern semifinals by virtue of
having gone 4-0 in group play. Hield finished with 21 points,
while Bennedict Mathurin had 16, Nesmith 14, Bruce Brown 13 and
Obi Toppin 12.
The Celtics, who had walloped the Pacers 155-104 at home on Nov.
1 and came into the Monday contest on a three-game winning
streak, were led by Tatum with a game-high 32 points and Brown
with 30. Tatum completed a double-double with a game-high 12
rebounds.
Derrick White had 18 points and a team-high eight assists for
Boston, which was missing injured Kristaps Porzingis (calf). Sam
Hauser came off the bench for 15 points.
--Field Level Media
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