In case anybody was feeling confident, Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals made it clear that any path to the NBA Finals would not be easy for these Boston Celtics. Facing the sixth-seeded Indiana Pacers, the Celtics looked off-balance all night long against an Indiana offense that flew up and down the court and cracked the ironclad Boston defense in the process. The Celtics kept pace with Indiana’s torrid scoring, however, and a miraculous sequence resulted in a game-tying three-pointer from Jaylen Brown with five seconds left in regulation, setting Boston up to escape with an overtime win, 133-128.
Jayson Tatum led the way for the Celtics with 36 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, and Jrue Holiday added his best scoring night of the postseason thus far with 28 points of his own. Brown scored 26, including crucial heroics in the fourth quarter and overtime to drive the win. For the Pacers, Myles Turner rode a big first half to 23 points, but it was Tyrese Haliburton showcasing a ridiculous display of shot-making to bolster the Pacers with 25 points (six made threes) and 10 assists. Pascal Siakam added 24 points.
An exciting start to the game — a layup from Brown — quickly gave way to one of the earliest video reviews you will ever see. On the second possession of the game, Horford contested a layup attempt by Siakam and appeared to block it, but the play was ruled a goaltend. This prompted Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla to signal for a challenge just 35 seconds into the game — a challenge that, as it turned out, was successful. The quickest challenge in NBA history set the score back to 2-0 Celtics, and the game resumed with 11:25 on the clock.
The Celtics, for their part, made the challenge worth it. They extended the newfound run to 12-0 across the first three minutes of the game, prompting Indiana coach Rick Carlisle to bring the game to an early second stoppage by calling timeout. After the timeout, though, Indiana’s maximum-effort style began to kick into gear. Heady fast break play, especially on the defensive end, and timely shooting allowed Indiana to prevent the game from veering into early blowout territory. Their energy on both ends of the court allowed them to keep pace with a customarily strong offensive effort from the Celtics, and Boston led by just three entering the second quarter, 34-31.
The second quarter began with a modest Boston run, including an and-one layup from Horford against Indiana backup Jalen Smith, who has played sparingly this postseason. The Celtics brought the game back under control, at least for a few moments, pushing their advantage back to 10 points midway through the quarter. Indiana responded with another offensive surge, though, with Turner reaching 18 first half points and Haliburton showcasing some ridiculous shot-making late in the quarter. The Pacers stormed back and tied the game, and matched the Celtics point-for-point in the closing minutes. The two teams entered the halftime break tied at 64 points apiece.
Haliburton recorded the first points of the second half, giving Indiana their first lead of the night on a horribly blown coverage from the Boston defense. The Pacers’ 5-0 run to open the half was quickly answered by a 7-0 run from the Celtics, forcing Carlisle to take an early timeout. Those early minutes followed a similar tone, an ebb and flow between the two that stayed within a couple of possessions. As the quarter wore on, though, Indiana’s offense started to peter out, and their turnover problems created valuable opportunities for the Celtics to build a lead. They pushed their advantage to 13 points behind an and-one layup from Tatum and a three from Holiday with under five minutes to play in the third.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, though: a late frenzy of activity brought the Pacers back within striking distance in seemingly the blink of an eye. Indiana hit the switch again, rattling off an 11-2 run behind some aggressive drives into the paint and a three-pointer from Nesmith. After a questionable late review confirmed a common foul from Nesmith was not a flagrant, a moving screen from Hauser set up a circus three-pointer from Haliburton to leave the Celtics’ lead at just one point entering the final quarter, 94-93.
The fourth quarter thrill ride began with a midrange jumper from Siakam, once again pushing the Pacers into the lead. Consecutive buckets from Tatum, followed by a two-pointer to give Holiday a 20-point night, jockeyed the Celtics back ahead. It was a frenetic scoring pace, with the two teams trading rapid-fire buckets before a layup from McConnell prompted a Mazzulla timeout with just under eight minutes to play.
After a rare quiet stretch from both teams, scoring-wise, the Pacers built their first multi-possession lead of the game behind a Turner three and a pair of buckets by Siakam, pushing ahead 108-104 with 4:33 remaining in regulation. Mazzulla called a timeout, hoping to regroup, and the teams traded three-point possessions over the next several possessions to send the game into crunch time with Indiana ahead by one point, 111-110, with three minutes remaining.
Siakam and Nembhard connected on midrange jumpers to build a five-point Pacers edge as the clock ticked under two minutes. In a moment of concern, Brown went down after a blow to the head from Siakam on a drive, but remained in the game, and Holiday connected on a layup to draw within three. Moments later, Carlisle followed up Mazzulla’s opening minute challenge with one of his own in the final minute, contesting a loose ball foul call on Siakam. The challenge was unsuccessful, and Brown made a pair of free throws to draw within a point of the lead.
With 46 seconds remaining, the Pacers again went to the midrange, with Nembhard connecting on a step-back to restore a three-point advantage. Mazzulla called for a timeout, but the Celtics squandered multiple opportunities — including a gift of an out-of-bounds turnover from Haliburton — setting up Indiana to walk away with the win. Incredibly, though, the Pacers turned the ball over again, failing to make the side-out-of-bounds pass correctly and creating an extra possession for the Celtics — a Brown corner three-pointer with 5.7 seconds left on the clock. Haliburton’s buzzer-beating attempt didn’t find paydirt, and Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals went to overtime.
The free basketball period began with shockingly little fanfare, as the two teams managed to go more than a minute without scoring a point between the two of them. Haliburton broke the stalemate, though, hitting a stepback three with 3:45 remaining. Brown replied with a layup in traffic, and Horford swatted away a Nembhard jumper, setting up Tatum to put the Celtics back ahead on a fast break that drew Nesmith’s disqualifying sixth foul, 121-120.
The game clock once again ticked under two minutes remaining in regulation. In a disastrous sequence, Tatum coughed up a turnover and White followed with a foul on a Haliburton three-pointer on the other end, a massive swing that gifted the Pacers a two-point lead. The duo redeemed themselves moments later, with White grabbing an offensive board to set up an and-one layup from Tatum to put the Celtics ahead again. The tally: 124-123 Celtics with 1:12 to play.
In the final minute, the Pacers finally, mercifully, cracked. Holiday forced an out-of-bounds turnover from Haliburton with 1:02 to play, and Tatum was able to cash in on a back-breaking three-pointer on the ensuing fast break to put the Celtics ahead 127-123. After a Carlisle timeout, Siakam fumbled another turnover, and White converted a layup to push the lead to six. Free throw shenanigans ensued in the closing seconds — including Mazzulla’s second challenge, unsuccessful — but this was the sequence that put Pacers on ice for good.
Next up, the Celtics will remain at home to host the Pacers for Game 2, this Thursday at 8 PM EST on ESPN.
