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Key Moment
Victor Oladipo wanted the win, and he got the win.
Trailing by two during the final seconds of the game, Oladipo made the courageous decision to pull up for a game-winning, pull-up 3 in transition with 4.7 seconds left following a miss by Boston. That decision proved to be a great one, as Indiana’s All-Star forward canned the bucket and pushed Boston’s back against the wall.
Still, the Celtics had a shot to snag the win, as they advanced the ball to mid court with a timeout. Gordon Hayward checked into the game to stand in as Boston’s inbounder.
As the ensuing play unfolded, Hayward read the it exactly as Brad Stevens had drawn it up. Jayson Tatum came off of a rub screen with Kyrie Irving in the paint and for the slightest of moments was uncovered just in front of the basket. That’s when Hayward tossed his inbound pass. But as the ball flew through the air, so did Tatum’s defender, Oladipo. The Pacers guard gave a second effort and stretched out just far enough to break the pass up with his left hand.
Indiana took possession of the loose ball and advanced it to the other end of the court as time ran out, handing the Celtics a heartbreaking loss thanks to Oladipo’s game-winning plays at each end of the floor.
Key Player
We wrote all about Marcus Morris and his early contention for the Sixth Man of the Year award this afternoon. Now it’s time to write about him again tonight.
Morris was the best player on the court Saturday night in Indianapolis, where he tallied a team-high and season-high 23 points against the Pacers. There was no telling where Morris was going to score from, because he was hot from everywhere on the court.
The forward finished the contest having made nine of his 13 shots and four of his six 3-pointers. He shot 2-for-4 on midrange jumpers and dropped in all three of his shots in the paint.
The C’s also appreciated Morris contributing six rebounds, an assist, a steal and a blocked shot. His effort was the most well-rounded in the game from Boston’s perspective. He was a big reason why the C’s played from ahead for the majority of the night.
Box Score Nuggets
- Five Celtics scored 12 or more points, led by 23 points off the bench from Marcus Morris.
- Victor Oladipo led the game in both scoring (24 points) and rebounding (12 boards).
- The Celtics blocked a season-high nine shots.
- Marcus Smart led the Celtics in assists with nine, three-times more than the next-highest total by a member of the team (four other Celtics tallied three).
- Indiana scored 19 points from the free-throw line, while Boston scored just six.
- No member of the Celtics grabbed more than seven rebounds.
- Smart, Oladipo and Bojan Bogdanovic tied for the game high in steals with three apiece.
- The Celtics nearly shot as well from 3-point range (41.3 percent) as Indiana shot from the field overall (41.4 percent).
- Tyreke Evans scored 17 points off of Indiana's bench.
- Smart finished with the game's best plus/minus rating at plus-12.
- Morris, Jayson Tatum and Kyrie Irving each made four 3-pointers during the game.
Quote of the Night
Al Horford on Boston's defense.