Led by the dynamic duo of Zeller and Olynyk (that rolls off the tongue nicely doesn’t it?), the Celtics outplayed and out-hustled the Pacers in a 100-87 victory at the Garden. The win keeps Boston a half game behind Brooklyn for the 8th seed in the East.
Evan Turner churned out another tremendous performance: 13 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists and 1 TO. Yup, that’s his 3rd triple-double of the season.
The Celtics toyed with Roy Hibbert and the other Pacers bigs. Zeller (19 points, 8-9 FG in 24 minutes) and Olynyk (19 points, 7-10 FG in 22 minutes) were too versatile and mobile for the lumbering Hibbert.
The offense looked crisp from the start. Zeller had 9 points in the first 6 minutes. Boston finished the 1st quarter with 8 assists on 9 FGs. Isaiah Thomas’ layup at the end of the quarter was the first bucket from the Celtics backcourt.
The Celtics kept the pressure on in the 2nd quarter. They just kept out-hustling the Pacers and winning the 50-50 balls. The lead stretched to 11 at the half.
Boston pushed the lead to 18 in the 3rd, but (predictably) the Pacers made a run. A 10-0 spurt midway thru the quarter kept Boston from blowing this one wide open. George Hill (21 points, 9-11 FG) had 9 points in the quarter. It was a tight 68-62 game heading into the 4th.
But the Celtics kept pushing the pace, especially Jae Crowder whose driving dunk midway through the quarter extended the lead to 13. The Celtics never looked back.
Green
Tyler Zeller and Kelly Olynyk combined for 38 points on 15-19 FG. I’m fairly confident that will never happen again.
Gross
Kelly Olynyk took a Shavlik Randolph elbow to the eye during pregame shootaround. He needed 4 stitches but still played 22 minutes.
Greenlights
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Marcus Smart landed HARD on his back in the 4th quarter. He stayed in the game, but there’s no doubt he’ll be hurting tomorrow.
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The Grid:
- Marcus Smart and Isaiah Thomas shot a combined 3-16
- Brad Stevens played 9 guys who each tallied at least 20 minutes
- Roy Hibbert’s streak of 28 consecutive FTs ended
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