The Boston Celtics traveled to Indiana Friday night to play the Pacers. Both teams squared off against each other on Monday with the Celtics prevailing 103-95 in a comeback victory. The second contest between these two teams resulted in a dominant Celtics win, 140-122. Payton Pritchard and Jaylen Brown had a combined 59 points in the blowout win.
Derrick White, Jordan Walsh, Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard, and Neemias Queta started the game in the white uniforms for Boston. Ryan Nemhard hit his first shot attempt, a corner three-pointer swished home for the game’s opening score. Neemias Queta scored Boston’s first basket of the game as he cut into the lane as Derrick White found him with a high pass for an easy jam.
Jordan Walsh missed the last matchup between these teams, suffering from an illness earlier in the week, and returned to action, hitting his three-point shot attempt. Indy was on fire to start the game, as they were a perfect 5/5 from downtown to start the game. Nembhard had 3/3 from beyond the arc with nine points after just 5 minutes of play.
Indiana was cooking with a 24-12 lead at the six-minute mark of the first quarter. Joe Mazzulla went to Simons, Hauser, Garza, and Gonzalez as the first four off the bench for the road team. The Celtics were struggling to match the pace of Indiana’s hot start as they went on a 14-4 run before Sam Hauser reeled off a pair of triples in his few touches off the bench.
Payton Pritchard hit a tough step-back triple over Ethan Thompson to cut the Pacer lead to just ten, 32-22. Pritchard registered his second foul of the game with an offensive push-off in the lane; he joined Walsh on the bench, who also had 2 early fouls. Indiana closed out the first quarter shooting 60 percent from the field, as they took a 39-28 lead after one.
Sam Hauser ripped the nets to start the second quarter, as he drained his third triple of the night. Derrick White got into the action, hitting his first three-pointer of the night to cut the lead back to just 5 points after a minute of second-quarter play. Boston went on a 13-2 run to start the second quarter as they were well and truly back int he game.
Simons picked up his second foul as TJ McConnell drove through the chest of the former Trail Blazers. Baylor Scheierman caught a cross court pass from Brown and the sophomore Celtic hit on the high catch and shoot three-pointer in front of the Celtics bench.
Derrick White copped a stray elbow to the face defending a drive and went to the bench with blood from the mouth. He would return after the referees reviewed the play to see if they needed to upgrade the call beyond a common foul. Boston flipped the script in the second quarter to take a 7-point lead, outscoring Indiana 27-9 with 6 minutes to go in the half.
Derrick White’s 2nd three-pointer of the night saw Boston stretch the lead to 11 points as Indiana was in all kinds of trouble. The Pacers had 5 turnovers compared to zero for the Celtics, as it was pretty much all one-way traffic for Boston in the second quarter.
Payton Pritchard led the C’s in scoring after the first half with 17 points on a mixtape of classic mid-range buckets, Jaylen Brown had 14 points, and Derrick White had 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Boston had 47 points in the second quarter to take a comfortable 75-61 lead at the half.
The 47 points Boston had last quarter, tied a franchise record for all time in second quarter point totals.
JB scored Boston’s first four points to start the third quarter, and Derrick White hit a banked three-pointer from the right hand side wing. After a perfect second quarter with zero turnovers, Boston was careless with the ball to start the third and had 4 quick turnovers.
It was also a foul fest to start the third as Indy had 4 quick personals to Boston’s solitary one. Jay Huff blocked a Queta layup attempt, his 25th straight game with a block, a league leading stat. JB had 8 third quarter points and counting at the 5 minute mark, Boston up by 16 points, 92-76.
Sam Hauser was scorching hot in the third, he hit his seventh straight three-pointer for 23 points and counting on the night. Jordan Walsh and TJ McConnell got tangled in an rebounding altercation, both players shoving each other, the Refs handing out technical fouls to each player.
Things were getting chippy and bodies were hitting the ground late in the third, but Boston was up by 20 points with a quarter remaining, 111-91.
Derrick White scored Boston’s first points of the fourth quarter, with an up-and-under lay up. Scheierman drew an offensive foul on a clearly frustrated Johnny Furphy.
White had a bloodied lip from the earlier incident but stayed in the game, hitting a tough turnaround baseline jumper, his 21st point. The Boston lead remained around 20 midway through the fourth quarter. Joe Mazzulla kept the starters in the game until the 5-minute mark. Rick Carlisle went to his third stringers as the game wound down.
Jaylen Brown had 30 points on the night, Payton Pritchard had 29 points, Sam Hauser had a super efficient 23 points in just 17 minutes of action, and Derrick White chipped in 21 points.
Boston now move to 8-2 in the month of December as they climb the League’s power rankings. The C’s have a lengthy road trip in front of them and they next travel to Portland to take on the Trail Blazers on Sunday 28th of December.
