Domantis Sabonis hit a layup with 8.4 seconds remaining on Sunday night, lifting the Indiana Pacers to a 108-107 win over the Boston Celtics at Bankers Life FieldHouse in Indianapolis.
Boston (1-2) raced to an early 15-4 lead, before Indiana (3-0) would cut it to 23-19 after one quarter. The Pacers took their first lead on a Justin Holiday dunk almost two minutes into the second, before the Celtics regained momentum going up eight and had a six point halftime lead at 55-49. Holiday and T.J. Warren caught fire early in the third and the hosts would push back into the lead by as many as 11, and by an 88-83 score headed to the final period. The guests would keep fighting, and then late in the fourth Robert Williams III came up with a steal and got it to Marcus Smart who made a reverse layup to make it 107-106 Celtics with 11.8 seconds to go. Sabonis powered in a running layup to the basket and was fouled by Williams, but missed the free throw. Boston had a last chance on a Jayson Tatum deep three-pointer that came up short, and despite a Smart offensive rebound there was no time left for another shot.
Tatum led the way in the loss with 25 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists. Jaylen Brown added 18 points and four assists. Payton Prichard (13 pts), Smart (12), and Williams III (11) rounded out the double digit Celtics scorers. Malcolm Brogdon led the Pacers in the win with 25 points. The two teams play again in Indianapolis on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
