Keys to the Game: Pacers 133, Celtics 131

Monday night’s game in Indianapolis ended with three of the wildest, strangest, unbelievable seconds you’ll ever see to an NBA game.

With the Celtics and Pacers knotted up at 131-131 and less than 10 seconds to go, Jaylen Brown pulled up from the right baseline to take a jumper that could have won the game. Instead, his shot was blocked from behind by Buddy Hield, but Brown drew a foul in the process and earned a trip to the free-throw line with 3.2 seconds left to potentially win the game from there.

That, at least, was the temporary situation.

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle rightfully challenged the call – he had his challenge remaining, and would have let it go to waste without using it – and sent the refs to the monitors to review the play. Somehow, despite the fact that Hield’s arm clearly made contact with Brown’s head and back from behind as Hield’s hand moved in to swipe the ball, the referees overturned the call.

Jaw-dropper.

So the Celtics went from having two free throw attempts to break the tie with 3.2 seconds left, to instead playing defense at the other end to try to force overtime. All of this after Brown’s head was indisputably contacted by Hield’s arm.

And somehow, we were just getting started with the craziness at this point.

Boston had a foul to give and used it with 2.0 seconds left after the Pacers inbounded the ball. Indiana then inbounded to Bennedict Mathurin on the left wing, who forced a shot up at the buzzer that was blocked away by Kristaps Porzingis to force overtime.

But wait! Porzingis was called for a foul on the play with 0.6 seconds left, giving Indiana a chance to potentially win the game with two free throws. Porzingis did, in fact, make marginal contact with Mathurin on the attempt, so the Celtics did not challenge the call.

Mathurin wound up making the first two free throws to push Indy ahead 133-131. He missed the third attempt on purpose to try to run the clock out on the rebound, but Al Horford quickly grabbed the board and called for timeout with 0.3 seconds left. Boston then nearly converted on a desperation inbound play to Luke Kornet at the rim that would have sent the game to overtime. It wasn’t meant to be, as Kornet’s tip rimmed out at the buzzer.

That left the Celtics with a frustrating loss, and many questions to be asked as they headed home to Boston.

Jaylen Brown continued his torrid shooting stretch Monday night in Indiana as he piled up a season-high 40 points on 17-for-26 shooting. The soon-to-be three-time All-Star shot 3-for-4 from long distance and 14-for-22 from inside the arc. This performance marked Brown's 10th career 40-point game.

Brown has now shot at least 65 percent from the field during four of his last six games.

Boston needed that scoring while Jayson Tatum was sidelined due to a left ankle sprain, which he continues to manage. No other player on the roster scored more than 21 points on the night.

Brown also contributed five rebounds and two assists during his 38 minutes of action. His second and final assist nearly gave the Celtics a win, as he found Kristaps Porzingis open for a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:05 remaining on the clock.

"Even tonight, trying that 2-1-2 (zone), putting it in and slowing it down - we even did it the game before where it kinda slowed them down. I feel like that's something we're gonna work on, because we're gonna need it down the line."

– Jrue Holiday on the Celtics incorporating an innovative 2-1-2 zone