BSJ Game Report: Celtics 140, Pacers 122 - C's shake off Indy's hot start, ride hot shooting to fourth-straight win

Everything you need to know about the Celtics' win over the Pacers, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

The worst offense in the league came out blistering hot (again) and put up 39 on their way to an 11-point first-quarter lead. That flipped in the second quarter as Payton Pritchard led a monster run to go up 14. Sam Hauser got hot in the third to push the lead to 20, and the Pacers never challenged from there.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Hot shooting: The Celtics shot 51% from 3, powered by Sam Hauser’s 7-8 night. They hit 20 3-pointers, but the story of this game might actually be the mid-range shooting. Look at these shot zones. 

That's a lot of green all over the court. 

- Hot start, cold finish: The Pacers hit their first six from deep and shot 7-12 from 3 in the first quarter. Not quite their 8-9 in the first of their game on Monday, but it was still pretty ridiculous shooting. The difference in this game was they didn’t wait until halftime to come back down to earth. They went cold in the second quarter, shooting 11-32 the rest of the game. 

- Hot streak: Boston has now won four straight games, and the rest of their road trip features teams under .500. The Celtics have the fewest games in the East against teams under .500, and they’re now 8-3 against those teams. 

TURNING POINT 

The second quarter was a bloodbath. The first part of it was a slower walk-down of the lead and then the Celtics whipped off a 13-0 run that put them up 12 and that was it. They ended up winning the second 47-22. 

THINGS I LIKED

- The second quarter: When I say the Celtics killed the Pacers from midrange in the second quarter, I mean it. 

They were 9-12 between the restricted area and the 3-point line. Pritchard was the guy doing most of the damage, hitting 6-8 in that area. This was just a professional walk-down of the lead until they could hit the death blow. 

- Jaylen Brown: He snuck in his 30-piece with a couple of late 3-pointers, but he was in total control after a couple of early turnovers. He was efficient (13-20 fg), he defended (four steals), and passed (four assists). This pass should count double. 

If he gets 30 in Portland, he’ll tie Larry Bird for the longest streak in team history. 

- Payton Pritchard: 29 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and continued mastery of the paint non-restricted area. He’s shooting 62.5% in that zone, an outrageous number that is currently better than Nikola Jokić and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander,

- Sam Hauser: This is classic Hauser. He has a long cold stretch, then a few games of unconscious shooting, and suddenly he’s back to 40%. He’s not there yet, but he went from 35.7% to 38.1% tonight. 

- Derrick White: Pritchard, Hauser, and Brown buried a “you know why” night. 21 points, six assists, five rebounds, two steals, one block. I liked his stretch at the start of the fourth when the building was starting to get a little energized by a TJ McConnell/Jordan Walsh scuffle. White shut that down in a hurry. 

- Luka Garza: He led the Celtics by going +26. Just a nice, solid night of screening, rebounding, and finishing the passes that found him. 

- Baylor Scheierman: An underrated nice night for him. He was getting in on rebounds and he defended hard. 

- Bill Kennedy reviews: I petition for him to announce all reviews.

He needs a cameo in something. A TV show. A music video (do they still make those?). Something. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Hugo Gonzalez: If I’m gonna gush about the kid when he’s good, I gotta call him out when he’s not. He had a rough game, getting a bit overzealous on some defensive possessions and getting burned for it. He has to be smarter about who he helps off of in case some of the spectacular plays he makes in one game turn into misses the next. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- The Celtics could go on a big run here. 

They have already won four straight games, and they have games coming up against the Blazers, Jazz, Kings, and Clippers. Could they get to eight in a row? That's probably asking a bit too much, but there is a strong chance they can build a pretty nice pad in the standings, just in case they get bitten by the injury bug. 

For a team like Boston, who, despite its success, still has no margin for error, a pad in the standings is a big deal. We can’t lose sight of how tenuous the Celtics' grasp is on their spot in the top half of the East. 

So piling up the wins now while they can will be a nice parachute for them in case they fall. And hey, if they don’t fall, then they will ride this charmed season for as long as it lasts. Maybe they don’t ever get stung by a long absence, and they just stay surprising. 

That rarely happens, though. Something is probably coming at some point. So stack the wins while they're there. There are plenty for them over the next week or so. 

Next Up: The Celtics visit the Portland Trail Blazers Sunday evening