Looking for a sweep on their three-game road trip, the Boston Celtics face off against a shorthanded Indiana Pacers squad without key guards Rodney Stuckey and Monta Ellis. Not the sexiest of matchups, or jerseys in Indiana’s case, but Paul George and co. made it interesting.
THE GAME FLOW
The C’s came out the gate on fire with beautiful team ball movement with a quick 9-2 run to start the game. The offense was flowing, they were getting out in transition, all signs pointed to the beginning of a blowout until Indy’ three-headed monster of George/Turner/Teague combined for 25 of the team’s 32 points to get them back in the game. Not to mention a whopping seven fouls called on “Gang Green”, resulting in 11-13 shooting from the free throw line for the Pacers.
The first half was a game of runs for both teams but Boston imposed their will with a 17-0 run to start the second quarter thanks to some swarming team defense from Jaylen Brown and Jae Crowder. Indiana had careless turnovers and blew some easy shots near the cup which fueled the early onslaught. Crowder especially had himself a night on the defensive end. On back-to-back possessions he managed to swipe the ball from Paul George for a steal and then forced C.J. Miles to drag his foot for a blatant travel. The dude was sticking his hands in the cookie jar and was rewarded each and every time. He even nailed a three pointer with 0.9 seconds left on the clock before halftime.
IT sparked the second half for Boston by setting up his teammates with his decisive decision-making and scoring. Though he was having an off-night shooting starting out, coming off a career-high 44 points versus Memphis, Thomas was spreading the love with all nine of his assists through three quarters. Those assists were key in their 10-0 run mid-quarter to stretch the lead to as much as 16. Jeff Teague went on a spree and scored 16 in the quarter to cut the deficit to 10 for Indiana.
The game flow carried on to the fourth as the Celtics went back to good old ball movement, balanced scoring, and harassing defense. They could’ve iced the game around the 9:30-10:00 minute mark where the Pacers made some awful turnovers on consecutive possessions. Boston coughed up a perfect opportunity to put the nail in the coffin on two failed alley-oop attempts. It was truly painful to watch. But it was Isaiah freaking Thomas who, once again, continues to show how clutch he is in the fourth on a nightly basis by haulting the comeback by Indiana. The C’s got the dub 109-102.
Avery Bradley was called for a technical after what appeared to be a clean steal on Paul George who tried to get fancy with it. That technical led to an eventual five point play for the Pacers. You be the judge of the call….
AB gets the tech for the steal attempt pic.twitter.com/RyNRG0QinU
— Derek🇵🇪 (@Machen55) December 23, 2016
Jae Crowder. He was a menace on defense tonight. Just look how he’s shutting down any available options for Miles, forcing him to drag his foot.
Crowder forces CJ Miles to travel pic.twitter.com/EjiLfwPNqH
— Derek🇵🇪 (@Machen55) December 23, 2016
He’s the league leader in points scored in the fourth quarter for a reason. IT is TOO clutch!
IT with the clutch 3 for the C's🍀 pic.twitter.com/jE0kQGjIPS
— Derek🇵🇪 (@Machen55) December 23, 2016
THE GRID
Isaiah Thomas: 28-1-9 shooting (43%) from the field on 21 shots. He may not have shot as well as last game but at least he got to the bucket shooting 8-9 from the free throw line.
Jae Crowder: 15-5-2 with a steal and countless ball deflections. Boston was +15 when Crowder was on the floor.
Jeff Teague: 31-5-8 going 11-11 from the free throw line. Teague kept his team alive scoring 16 of his 32 points in the third quarter.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
