Aaron Nesmith took a transition go from Tyrese Haliburton and dunked it over Al Horford. The former Celtic galloped across the court docket and chest-pumped Myles Turner as the remainder of his Pacers teammates flooded the court docket to rejoice an imminent victory.
The Celtics proved they cared concerning the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament with how they dealt with their ultimate group stage recreation final week. They confirmed that mentality throughout stretches of Monday’s first ever quarterfinal recreation of the event. But in the end, the second meant extra for the upstart Pacers.
In a playoff-like environment, the C’s couldn’t get the job performed on Monday evening in Indiana. Jayson Tatum scored 32 factors and Jaylen Brown added 30, however their worst habits haunted them once more. They laid one other dud within the third quarter. Too many turnovers piled up. And then the Pacers – led by Tyrese Haliburton – raised their recreation to a different degree within the second half, as they handed the Celtics a 122-112 loss and sending them dwelling from the In-Season Tournament.
The Celtics is not going to be transferring on to Las Vegas for the semifinals. Instead, they’ll return dwelling for a daily season recreation on Friday evening in opposition to the loser of Tuesday’s Bucks-Knicks event quarterfinal.
Haliburton recorded his first profession triple-double – 26 factors, 13 assists and 10 rebounds – and introduced his finest within the second half. He introduced them again with an enormous third quarter. And then – in a recreation that featured 16 lead modifications and unimaginable shot-making on either side – he made the distinction late. He broke a tied recreation with a four-point play with 1:33 to go that despatched the Pacers on a profitable 9-0 run. He hit Buddy Hield for a 3-pointer, then his feed to Nesmith with 44 seconds sealed it.
Source: www.bostonherald.com