Consider the Celtics’ skid snapped. After losing four of its last seven and two straight for the first time this season, Boston bounced back in emphatic fashion by bulldozing the Indiana Pacers 142-105 on Friday night at TD Garden. Jaylen Brown was the tone-setter for Boston, scoring a season-high 44 points on 16-for-24 shooting (6-for-11 from 3-point range) before watching the final eight-plus minutes from the bench.
It was the highest scoring output for Brown — the MVP when these teams met in last season’s Eastern Conference finals — since Jan. 2, 2022, when he dropped 50 in a win over Orlando. Co-star Jayson Tatum finished with 22 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three steals, and Boston shot better than 40% from three as a team (23-for-57) for the second consecutive game.
The 37-point win was the most lopsided of the season for the Celtics, which became the fifth team this season to score 140-plus points while allowing 105 or fewer. They did it without two of their usual starters , as guard Jrue Holiday (shoulder) and center Kristaps Porzingis (ankle) both sat out with injuries. Indiana, which put up 135 points in an overtime win over Boston in October, also was shorthanded, playing without rotation players Obi Toppin, Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Celtics and Pacers will play a rematch Sunday at TD Garden (6 p.m. tipoff).
Joe Mazzulla switched up his early-game personnel usage, playing Brown for the entire first.
