Celtics halt skid with 116-111 win over Indiana

Jayson Tatum, one game after admittedly not doing the right thing with a deep miss in the last possession of a loss to Indiana, made amends last night.

The Celtics forward came on strong in the fourth quarter of last night’s 116-111 Celtics win over the Pacers in the back end of their mini-series. Tatum finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds in a game that also featured point guard Payton Pritchard in a finishing role. The rookie finished with 10 points, five assists and five rebounds.

The Celtics thus snapped an early-season two-game losing streak.

Victor Oladipo scored in the paint following a missed Tatum free throw, cutting the Celtics lead to 111-109. Pritchard missed a double-clutch 3-point attempt from the left corner after taking the pass from a bottled up Tatum.

But Jaylen Brown stripped the ball from Aaron Holiday and drove the floor for a 113-109 lead. Oladipo answered for the Pacers, but Tatum hit twice this time with 14.8 seconds left for a 115-111 lead. Oladipo bounced a pass off Sabonis, with Marcus Smart pouncing on the steal.

Indiana opened the fourth quarter with a 94-83 lead, and with Tatum opening the scoring, the Celtics immediately cut the Pacers lead to two points on five straight points from Payton Pritchard off drives, including a three-point play.

Tatum, off a mid-court steal, tied the game at 94-94 with 9:15 left. T.J. McConnell scored in response. Pritchard cut the Pacers lead to a point with a free throw.

Tatum struck again, this time tying the game at 98-98 with 7:55 left after spinning to the basket with a three-point play. He banked a floater the next time down for a 100-98 lead.

Aaron Holiday’s layup off a Domantas Sabonis pass out of the high post tied the game at 100-100, but Tatum drew a foul coming out of a timeout, and hit twice for a two-point lead with 6:28 left.

The next time down Tristan Thompson tipped in a Tatum miss, and as the Pacers continued to cool down, Marcus Smart hit a 3-pointer for a 107-100 lead. The play was set up when Pritchard, after losing the ball, chased down a steal from Holiday down the other end.

Smart hit twice as a result of T.J. Warren’s sixth foul, and after a series of blanks on both ends, Malcolm Brogdon’s jumper cut the Celtic lead to 109-103. Pritchard missed a 3-pointer, and Victor Oladipo cut the Celtics lead to 109-105 with two free throws with 2:25 left.

Brown missed the first of two attempts with 2:05 left, leaving the Celtics ahead by five points.

But Brogdon missed, and Tatum was fouled again in the paint. He rolled in his first attempt, missed the second, and Sabonis cut the Celtics lead to four points again. Myles Turner forced a Thompson miss, and Oladipo cut the Celtics lead to a basket.

Oladipo, who didn’t play Sunday as part of his rehab program, heated up in the second quarter, finished the half with 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting, and kept the Pacers close as the Celtics closed out the half with a thin 58-57 lead.

Thompson was a force underneath with 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting and eight rebounds.

After losing all momentum over the first five minutes of the third quarter against the Pacers on Sunday, the Celtics lost the lead on the first basket of the third – this time an Oladipo 3-pointer.

The Pacers took his cue and, with the aid of two Celtics turnovers, jumped out to a seven-point lead. The Celtics pulled within a point only to fall back again, with a pair of point blank misses by Theis leading to an Oladipo three that was good for Indiana’s first 10-point lead of the night at 81-71.

Warren’s transition hoop – the Celtics continued to have trouble getting back – gave the Pacers a 15-point lead, and the forward came back with a jumper for an 88-71 lead.

Warren had 17 points by the end of the quarter, and the Pacers carried an 11-point lead into the fourth.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3psteYq