Game Rewind: Pacers 110, Celtics 126 (Game 2)

Thursday, May 23 at 8:00 PM ET at TD Garden

For the second straight playoff series, the Pacers are headed back to Indiana for Game 3 trailing 2-0 after dropping two road games at the higher-seeded team.

They were able to overcome that deficit to defeat the New York Knicks in seven games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. They face an even bigger test in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics, the top seed in the East.

Boston used a few big runs on Thursday night at TD Garden to pull away from Indiana for a 126-110 win. The Celtics surged ahead at the start of the second quarter, when they reeled off 17 straight points, and then pushed the margin to double digits for good with a 16-5 spurt in the third quarter after Indiana had drawn within two.

PLAYOFF CENTRAL: Follow Indiana's Postseason Run at Pacers.com/Playoffs >>

Celtics All-Star forward Jaylen Brown matched his playoff career high with 40 points, going 14-for-27 from the field and 8-for-11 from the free throw line.

Derrick White added 23 points, four rebounds, and six assists, while All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum tallied 23 points, six rebounds, and five assists.

The loss spoiled a terrific outing from Pacers forward Pascal Siakam, who scored a team-high 28 points while going 13-for-17 from the field (2-for-2 from 3-point range).

Pacers All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton exited with 3:44 remaining in the third quarter and did not return due to a sore left hamstring. Haliburton had previously returned to the locker room in the first half with a sore chest after taking a blow from Brown on a rebound, but returned to the floor after that injury. He finished with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting (2-of-6 from 3-point range), four rebounds, eight assists in 28 minutes.

After the game, head coach Rick Carlisle said Haliburton aggravated his hamstring in the first half and played through pain before the training staff decided to shut him down in the second half. He will be evaluated back in Indianapolis on Friday. Haliburton missed 10 games in January after straining the same hamstring.

"We hope that this is a very short-term aggravation," Carlisle said "But again, we’ll know more tomorrow and then Saturday obviously, the next game is coming quickly."

There is only one day off in between games in the conference finals, with the Pacers scheduled to host Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Monday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

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The Pacers got off to a much better start on Thursday than in Game 1, where they fell behind 12-0 to start the night. Indiana led by as many as six points in the opening frame and took a 27-25 advantage into the second quarter.

T.J. McConnell scored seven points off the bench in the first quarter, while Haliburton tallied five points and three assists.

But the start of the second quarter was all Celtics. Brown scored 10 points as Boston opened the frame with a 17-0 run to take the first double-digit lead of the night.

The Pacers went scoreless for over five minutes to start the the frame, with their first points not coming until Aaron Nesmith drew a foul and hit both free throws with 6:45 remaining in the quarter. They missed eight shots and committed three turnovers before that point. Nesmith hit a three on the next possession to give Indiana its first field goal of the quarter.

Siakam gave the Blue & Gold a nice lift to close the half, scoring the Pacers' final 10 points to get the visitors back within six (67-61) heading into the intermission.

The veteran forward continued to cook in the second half, scoring 10 of Indiana's first 14 points in the third quarter. His 3-pointer cut Boston's lead to 68-66 with 7:55 remaining in the frame.

The Celtics responded with a 16-5 run to push the lead back to double digits. That's where the margin remained entering the fourth quarter, with Boston leading, 93-80.

After Siakam knocked down another jumper on the opening possession of the final frame, a Jayson Tatum three-point play and Jrue Holiday 3-pointer pushed Boston's lead to 17.

Haliburton was not on the bench to start the quarter and was ruled out for the night minutes into the frame due to left leg soreness, later revealed by Carlisle to be a hamstring injury.

Boston extended its lead to as high as 19 points down the stretch, as the Pacers never got back within double digits.

Andrew Nembhard finished with 16 points and five assists in the loss for Indiana, while Obi Toppin scored 11 points off the bench.

Jrue Holiday recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists, going 6-for-7 from the field and 3-for-4 from 3-point range. Payton Prichard scored 12 points off the bench for Boston.

The series now shifts back to Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where the Pacers are yet to lose this postseason.

"For us right now, we’ve got to concentrate on getting back as quickly as we can tonight and preparing ourselves for our best possible effort on Saturday night," Carlisle said. "And I know that our building will be as loud and live as it’s ever been. It’s race weekend and everything else going on. We’ve got to take advantage of that."

Siakam's 28 points were his third most in a game this postseason, trailing only his 36 and 37 points in Games 1 and 2 of the first round against Milwaukee.

The Celtics shot 53.4 percent from the field and went 15-for-37 (40.5 percent) from 3-point range. Indiana made 52.4 percent of its attempts and was 11-for-29 (37.9 percent) from beyond the arc.

Boston outscored Indiana 54-34 in the paint in Game 2.

The Celtics outrebounded the Pacers 40-37 and 13-12 on the offensive glass, outscoring Indiana 18-13 in second-chance points.

After committing 22 turnovers in Game 1, the Pacers had 16 giveaways in Game 2, while only forcing 12 turnovers on the other end.

Indiana's bench outscored Boston's reserves, 39-19.

“After a pretty good first quarter, the beginning of the second quarter certainly changed the game a lot. They went on a big run…We bounced back decently, got it to six at halftime. But the third was tough and losing Ty for the game obviously is a big blow.” -Carlisle on the way the game unfolded

“I thought they played a little bit better for more stretches than we did. They had a lot of good runs and we got really close, but not quite there. Our energy wasn’t what it was supposed to be...We have to look ourself in the mirror and move on.” -Siakam

“We’ve got to try to make it as difficult on them as possible. We’ve got to be physical, persistent. We’ve got to play our game. We’ve got to have the right help at the right time if needed. We’ve got to make these guys make difficult shots and we’ve got to rebound the ball…We were doing some good things during the game. We just were not consistent enough and the beginning of the second quarter was killer.” -Carlisle on where the defense needs to improve

“Obviously we need Ty, but at the end of the day it’s the 'next man up’ mentality.’ We’ve got to be ready and play together. This team got to where we are today by having all of us. We all had to stay together, continue to play together. Obviously we want Tyrese back out there … it’s on us to continue to play and bring energy.” -Siakam on Haliburton's injury

"When your franchise guy goes down obviously it’s tough, but that’s a time for this group – who has done it this year – for everyone to step up and take a bigger role. We’ve done a good job of that when he has been out. Obviously it hurts when he goes down, but you know it’s one of things where it’s the next man up mentality. We haven’t heard anything about him yet, but guys just have to step up and be ready.” -McConnell on Haliburton’s injury

“To look at some guys that I thought needed a look. (Doug) McDermott went in there and played well. Isaiah Jackson brought a lot of fight to the game. Jalen Smith hasn’t had much of an opportunity to play in the playoffs, so I wanted to see where he was at. We weren’t giving up, but it was an opportunity to get some energetic, fresh guys in there to fight. They did some good things.” -Carlisle on rolling with bench players in the fourth quarter

“Our fans give us so much energy. Just playing there, obviously experiencing it for the first time, the games are just so much more energy and they are so passionate about our team. We’re just going out there and trying to compete to the best of our abilities. We can’t wait to see the fans out there on Saturday and just see the energy that they’re going to bring. Support us, which they’ve done all year.” -Siakam on the home crowd back in Indiana for the next two games

“It was a long road trip. I think it’ll be nice for all of us to get home in our own beds. We’re excited to play in front of our fans. It’ll be a big weekend with the race...we can’t wait to get back home.” -Nembhard on playing at home

"Obviously down 0-2 is something that we've seen before, especially in the last series. Coming back home, playing in front of our crowd, who we haven’t lost at home yet in the playoffs, we’re really excited to get back into our building and play in front of our fans." -McConnell

Brown's 40 points matched his playoff career high. He previously scored 40 in a 109-103 loss to Miami in Game 3 of the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals.

The Eastern Conference Finals will shift to Indianapolis when the Pacers host the Celtics for Game 3 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday, May 25 at 8:30 PM ET. Find Tickets >>