The Boston Celtics return home to TD Garden after a tough 4-game road trip. Boston led all game in a homecoming win by 15 points, 119-104. Newly minted All Star starter, Jaylen Brown led the team with 30 points in just 33 minutes, Hauser had 5 triples with 17 points on a hot shooting night in Boston.
Sam Hauser hit two early three-pointers to start the game for Boston. The sharp shooting Hauser has been hitting threes at a 39.5 percent clip on the season and has made 16 threes in his last 3 outings for Boston. The C’s had an early lead of 10-7 at the first TV timeout.
The trio of Luka Garza, Baylor Scheierman, and Anfernee Simons were first off the bench for the home team. Garza scored on his now patented deceleration cutting layup past a leaping Pacer big man. Payton Pritchard scored on a layup and was fouled by Jackson in the act of shooting, with the C’s starting PG hitting the bonus free throw.
Pascal Siakam was cooking early for the Pacers with a mix of jumpers and rim play, and he had 9 quick points in the first quarter to pace Indy. The power forward is staking his claim for All-Star reserve selection. Indiana beat Boston just over a week ago in a low-scoring game, and tonight was more of the same in the first quarter for the sluggish Pacers.
Scheierman’s corner triple gave the C’s an early seven-point lead, and Pritchard’s buzzer-beating three at the horn gave Boston a 30-20 lead at the end of the quarter.
Tony Bradley scored on the interior to start the 2nd quarter; the 6-foot-10 big was on his second 10-day contract with Indy following a string of injuries. Jordan Walsh was impacting things on both ends for Boston in his early minutes; he chased down 2 rebounds and nailed a triple on his first shot of the game in just 7 quick minutes of action. Sam Hauser swished home a three for Boston off a sweet JB assist; the Celtics were pushing the pace in the second quarter, up by 14 points, 38-24.
Hugo Gonzalez got his first run of the game at the midway point of the second quarter, and the rookie stuck a big three-pointer on his first shot of the game. Joe Mazzulla had Hugo matched up with 7-foot-1-inch center Jay Huff. Brown hit a sweet turnaround jumper, following that up with a wide-open transition layup.
Boston went on a 15-0 run before Pascal Siakam finally snapped the scoring streak for the visiting Pacers, Boston stretching the lead out to 23 points, 57-34. Jaylen Brown scored 17 points for Boston in the second quarter a few days after he was named a starter in the All Star game.
Queta had back-to-back dunks for Boston, Derrick White chipped in his first three of the game in front of the commentary bench, Boston headed to the change rooms with a 20 point lead, 66-46.
Sam Hauser opened the second half with a sweet drive and one-handed flick pass to Queta on the rim-rattling jam. Hauser had his fourth triple of the game off a Derrick White assist. Siakam had 5 straight points for the Pacers, as they started to chip away at Boston’s lead, getting it back to 16 points at the 9 minute mark.
Brown scored on a tough driving layup, his 21st of the game with Johnny Furphy draped all over him. Brown took Jay Huff all the way to the cup on the next play but missed both free throw attempts from the stripe. Brown would take a seat with 5 minutes to go in the third quarter, logging 23 points.
Jordan Walsh had a huge block on a Ben Sheppard’s corner three attempt, the ball sailing into the stands. Walsh chased down Potter on the break for another block attempt, but the replay confirmed Walsh got a piece of arm on the play.
Indiana cut into Boston’s big lead with a 16-4 run, the Celtics retained a 15-point lead with Jaylen Brown on the bench. A Ben Sheppard triple gave Indiana a ray of hope, cutting it back to 9-points. Things were setting up for another close battle down the stretch at TD Garden with a quarter to go.
Brown lead the C’s in scoring after 3 quarters with 23 points, Siakam had 27 points for the visitors, the Celtics up by 13 points, 91-78 after three.
Sam Hauser peeled off a neat Garza screen to hit his fifth three of the night, Simons playing the facilitator with a second assist on the night. Boston started of the fourth quarter hitting 7 points to Indy’s 4 points to start the fourth. Pritchard’s pull up two-pointer saw Boston hit the 100-point mark with seven minutes to go in the game.
With Indy down 15, it felt like they would run out of time to make a comeback as Boston had answers to every Pacer challenge. Brown had a steal and layup to stretch the lead back to 19 points. Brown was in complete control hitting 30 points for the 24th time of the year on a swooping two-footed layup across the key. Brown went to the bench with a 30-piece in the bag, both teams rolling with the bench squads to close things out, Boston sailing to victory.
Boston hit the road again to face the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night.
