Jayson Tatum had a game high 30 points, but the Boston Celtics for the fourth time in 10 days nearly choked away a large lead. This time they came through late thanks to a Marcus Smart shot to take down the Indiana Pacers 114-111 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis Tuesday night.
All five Boston starters scored in double figures in the win. The visitors led by as many as 13 in the first quarter on two free throws from Gordon Hayward, and led 30-22 after the opening 12 minutes. Boston led by as many as 15 in the second quarter, before a 15-4 run by Indiana cut it to 52-48. A late jumper by Daniel Theis increased the advantage to 59-50 at the break. The Celtics continued to increase the lead to 19 twice in the final 3:47 of the third quarter, and led 94-80 headed to the fourth. Leading by 16 with 7:40 left, the Pacers made a huge run to actually take a lead. Indiana tied it on a T.J. Warren three-pointer with 3:00 to go, and took over the lead 107-104 on a three point play by Domantas Sabonis with 2:14 remaining part of a 21-2 surge. Theis stepped up and tied it for Boston with a three-pointer after two empty possessions from the teams. Oladipo gave the lead back to the Pacers with two from the line, before a Tatum dunk tied it back up at 109-109. Smart hit a layup with under a minute left for a Celtics lead, and Victor Oladipo missed a three-pointer on the other end with 26.8 seconds showing on the clock. Kemba Walker hit 1-2 from the line for a three point lead, but then Sabonis scored on an offensive rebound to slice it to one again. Smart hit two free throws for a three point advantage in the final seconds, and Justin Holiday then airballed a game tying three-pointer as Smart grabbed the miss as the buzzer sounded and the Celtics were able to hang on.
Tatum added six rebounds and four steals in the win for Boston (43-21). Hayward filled up the stat sheet with 27 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Theis finished with 20 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Smart who came up big late ended with 16 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Walker added 11 points. Sabonis led Indiana in the loss with 28 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists. Oladipo had 27 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Warren finished with 22 points, and Myles Turner added 16 to round out the double digit scorers for the Pacers who drop to 39-26. The Celtics visit Milwaukee Thursday night to play the Bucks at 8 p.m. The green are currently in third place in the Eastern Conference, three games behind Toronto for second, and two games up on Miami who is in fourth.
