Game Rewind: Pacers 123, Celtics 128

After a near-historic comeback against the Nuggets, the Pacers showed heart while playing one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference Friday night.

The Blue & Gold (25-53) battled down to the wire with the Boston Celtics (48-30) at TD Garden – a place where Indiana had lost four straight. But unfortunately, at the final whistle, the Pacers fell short again, 128-123.

Whistles were a common thorn in Indiana’s side tonight during the effort. The squad racked up 30 fouls and handed Boston 28 free-throw attempts. With 8:13 left to play, Tyrese Haliburton’s spectacular night ended early, as he picked up his sixth foul for the second time in his career. He finished with 30 points on 10-of-11 shooting, including 6-of-6 from long range.

“He was aggressive,” Rick Carlisle said of Haliburton’s play. He got himself going. He got himself on a roll.”

“He was able to go 10-for-11 from the field without disrupting what we were doing as a team. That’s a sign of a great point guard.”

Indiana also had trouble slowing Boston’s dynamic duo, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Brown finished with a game-high 32, while Tatum added 31. They were responsible for nearly half of the Celtics' total points.

It was yet another quick start for a Pacers opponent. The Celtics jumped out to an 11-2 advantage – five from Marcus Smart – in the opening 2:15. Indiana started 0-for-5 from the floor.

However, the game flipped after a timeout. Indiana forced four straight turnovers and scored nine unanswered – five from Haliburton – to knot things at 11 with 8:18 remaining.

From there, the teams settled down and remained in tight quarters. Haliburton kept the Pacers in it several times. His six-foot fadeaway in the paint with 4:58 left gave the game a 19-18 score.

But down the stretch, Brown quickly built the Celtics a multi-possession lead. The forward scored seven unanswered to put the Celtics up 30-21 with 2:46 left. The Pacers’ deficit remained nine as the first quarter ended (37-28).

Indiana started the second quarter with five straight. However, Tatum took over for a spell. The three-time All-Star scored six consecutive points to stretch the gap to 43-33 with 8:54 remaining.

As the halfway mark approached, Haliburton stayed hot and kept the deficit from growing. The 22-year-old knocked in his third and fourth trey, including a 30-foot stepback snipe, to trim Indiana’s deficit to 48-41 with 6:46 left.

The young guard continued to pilot the Pacers’ offense and keep the margin within single digits. He hit the 20-point mark with 3:47 to play on a beautiful floater in the paint. The bucket cut the gap to 58-51.

Buddy Hield and Brissett then knocked in triples to help trim the deficit to 62-57 with just under two minutes to play. Then, they got to within three after Haliburton and Terry Taylor each dropped in a pair of freebies at the line. Unfortunately, the Celtics scored the final four points of the frame to stretch the gap to 68-61 before the break.

Two swats from Goga Bitadze and another Haliburton three highlighted Indiana’s early third-quarter performance. The plays kept Boston's advantage at single digits. Then, at the 7:58 mark, Haliburton drilled his sixth trey of the night, a dart from the right corner, to cut the gap to 76-71. It appeared as if no matter what Boston did offensively, Indiana had an answer on the other end.

The story remained the same as time ticked under five minutes of the period. Although Haliburton hit the 30-point mark on a pair of free throws, Tatum countered with a 24-foot 3-pointer in transition to keep up the pressure. Then, Bitadze fed Smith with a beautiful no-look pass for an easy dunk to give the game an 84-77 score.

Trailing 86-77, Smith followed a Brissett triple with a coast-to-coast dunk at the 3:17 mark. However, Tatum and Smart doubled the deficit with back-to-back buckets.

Nonetheless, Indiana had another answer. Lance Stephenson and Isaiah Jackson earned back-to-back buckets in the paint. Then, with 1:13 to play, Hield drilled a 32-foot trey to cut the gap to 90-89. But, Boston pushed its lead back to 96-91 before the quarter expired.

Early in the fourth, the Blue & Gold remained tenacious. After a few physical possessions, Boston earned a 103-95 lead on a Payton Pritchard three. But, Indiana countered with a 6-0 spree – four from Duane Washington Jr. – to trim the deficit to 103-101 with 8:27 remaining.

At the 8:13 mark, Haliburton’s night ended early. The guard fouled out after battling Brown for position along the baseline. To make matters worse, Derrick White finished Boston’s possession with a three to give the Celtics a 106-101 edge.

The Celtics earned an eight-point lead over the next few minutes. But, Indiana came right back. Smith, Bitadze, and Stephenson drilled treys in a 9-3 Pacers run to cut the deficit to 114-112 with 5:31 to play.

But again, they could not get over the hump. The hosts notched five straight to stretch the lead to seven with 3:15 left.

Trailing 122-116 with 1:26 left, Brissett nailed a triple from the left side to halve the lead. But, Brown had an answer 13 seconds later. His pull-up jumper pushed the Celtics ahead by five.

When the Celtics pushed the lead to six again, Brissett answered with another three. But White put the game on ice with a layup with 14.4 seconds left.

Oshae Brissett and Jalen Smith tallied 17 apiece to help the Pacers’ efforts. Both players also hauled in six rebounds

Lance Stephenson added an 11-point, 11-assist double-double off the bench.

The Pacers forced 16 Celtics turnovers which turned into 24 points

Boston outscored Indiana in the paint, 62-46

“The last time I was here, I lost by 53. I had that on my mind coming into it. I was just trying to be aggressive. The first ones felt good. We started slow so I just tried to get us going and I just kept it going” – Haliburton on tonight

“Tyrese is a very mature kid – mature beyond his years. He has a great understanding of the game. He has a natural intrinsic understanding of leadership and what that entails...He understands the opportunity that’s before him. He’s very humble about what that means.” – Carlisle on Haliburton’s future

Despite earning two ties and coming back to within one of the lead, Indiana never led in the game

The Pacers tip off their final homestand of the season on Sunday, April 3, when they welcome Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons to Gainbridge Fieldhouse at 5:00 PM ET. Find Tickets »