An Eastern Conference Finals rematch Wednesday night in Indiana produced a result the that series didn’t — a Celtics loss. Five months after sweeping the Pacers to reach the NBA Finals, Boston overcame a 24-point second-half deficit but couldn’t complete the comeback, losing 135-132 in overtime at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. A Pascal Siakam 3-pointer with 6.
1 seconds remaining in the extra period, sandwiched between misses by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, proved to be the difference. Siakam finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds in the win, with Pacers reserve Bennedict Mathurin adding 30 points and 11 rebounds in a career performance off the bench. Tatum paced Boston with 37 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals, but he went cold in overtime, missing his final four field goals (all 3-pointers).
Ditto for Brown, who went 0 for 2 from the floor and 0 for 2 from the free-throw line in OT and was 1 for 11 from 3-point range in the game. He finished with 25 points, six rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks. It was the first loss of the young season for the reigning champion Celtics, who entered Wednesday as one of three remaining NBA unbeatens.
Derrick White channeled his inner Payton Pritchard in the waning seconds of the first quarter, draining a buzzer-beating 29-footer that trimmed Indiana’s lead to 35-31. It was one of just three 3-pointers Boston made in the first quarter — an uncharacteristically low number for a team that set NBA records .
