The Celtics looked like they were going to suffer their first loss of the season in blowout fashion. Instead, they put together a huge comeback to force overtime. But it was all for naught at the end.
The Celtics lost an overtime thriller to the Pacers 135-132 on Wednesday in Indiana to suffer their first loss of the season. The Celtics dropped to 4-1 on the season while the Pacers improved to 2-3. Initially, the C’s kept up with the Pacers early, helped by a Derrick White buzzer-beater at the end of the first quarter.
But Indiana just kept going at Boston, also handing the C’s their first double-digit deficit of the season. When the Pacers went up by 24 points in the third quarter, they threatened to blow out the defending champs. But the energy shifted midway through the fourth quarter.
The Celtics ripped off a 33-12 run to force overtime to stun the Pacers, erasing a 21-point deficit in less than nine minutes of game action. Neemias Queta gets partial credit for that run as he changed up the equation with his play down the stretch. But the Pacers got the game-winning 3-pointer from Pascal Siakam in overtime to finally put the C’s to bed.
Jayson Tatum led the C’s with 37 points and eight rebounds. Jaylen Brown had another 25 points while Derrick White had 23. Siakam was huge with 29 point and 11 reboundss — especially down the stretch — for the shorthanded Pacers, who were without big man Myles Turner.
Bennedict Mathurin had another 30 points. The Celtics contin.
