Nass’ Trip Around the Association Vol. 3, Page Sixteen

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Celtics / Pacers Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 Recap + Series Takeaways

The Eastern Conference Semi-Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers began Tuesday night and was nothing short of thrilling and breathtaking. The title favorite Boston Celtics started the series by taking Game 1, edging the Pacers 133-128 in OT after some late-game heroics from Celtics’ franchise superstars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

The Celtics kicked off the series with an impressive 12-0 head start in the first quarter. After Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton netted a near half-court logo three-point shot with 1.8 left, the Pacers were able to crawl back, outscoring the Celtics 33-30 in the second quarter to enter halftime tied at 64 a piece. The Celtics held three separate double-digit leads in Game 1 that were all evaporated by the Pacers including a 16-4 run in the third quarter that was capped off by yet another late-quarter three-point jumper by Haliburton on the left wing to cut the deficit to just one point entering the games’ last intermission. Haliburton led the way for Indiana, totaling 25 points (8-18 FG, 6-14 3PT), ten assists, and three steals in 40 minutes.

In the fourth quarter, the two Eastern Conference squads traded baskets and defensive stops down to the closing minutes. With a minute left in the game and the Pacers up 115-112, Haliburton missed a step-back three-point jumper on the left wing, resulting in a loose ball foul called on Pacers forward Pascal Siakam. The Celtics were in the bonus and Jaylen Brown proceeded to make two free throws to cut the Pacers lead to one. Next possession down, Andrew Nembhard brought the ball up and sought a switch out on Celtics’ big man Al Horford via a Pascal Siakam ball screen. After the screen, Nembhard sized up Horford aggressively in isolation with a couple of hesitation of dribbles and drove hard left before burying a stepback jumper from just outside the elbow to give Indiana a 117-114 lead with 46.2 seconds left. Jayson Tatum then missed an open pull-up three-point attempt from the top of the key after a Celtics’ timeout next possession. Haliburton then brought the ball up on the left side and carelessly lost possession of the ball out of bounds with 27 seconds on the clock.

Next time down the court, Celtics’ guard Derrick White got a switch onto Pacers wing Aaron Nesmith and drove towards the basket. After White missed a heavily contested bunny, Tatum corralled the offensive rebound and a rushed fall-away one-legged jumper from inside the free-throw line that was too strong. Pacers’ big Myles Turner quickly secured the rebound and found Haliburton for a quick outlet before Tatum intentionally fouled him in the backcourt with seconds left on the game clock. The Celtics’ had a foul to give so the Pacers took the next possession out of bounds. Arguably the biggest momentous shift in the game resulted in the next play.

Nembhard was the Pacers’ inbounder. In an attempt to receive the inbounds and hopefully draw a foul that could lead to game-sealing free throws, Siakam who waited for the delayed pick action between teammates Haliburton and Nesmith to develop started to dart toward the open space. Brown, who simply was trying his best to deny Siakam the basketball, was just a half step behind when Siakam took off. Nembhard’s pass was semi behind Siakam’s desired direction and Brown got just enough hand on the basketball to deflect it off of Siakam’s hand out of bounds with just 8.5 left.

On the ensuing play, Celtics’ guard Jrue Holiday was the inbounder under the basket along the baseline on the Pacers’ side of the court. Jaylen Brown stood in the far corner, in front of the Pacers’ bench. When the play began to develop, Derrick White, who was standing along the dash marks just outside of the restricted area, started to retreat a couple of steps before decoying towards Holiday in a subtle attempt to receive the inbound. Brown simultaneously ran towards White and veered tightly around White’s hip into a trailing Siakam off of his tracks. White successfully disrupted Siakam’s path on the delayed screen and created a pathway for Brown to receive the inbounds back at his initial starting spot in the corner. Holiday delivered a strike to Brown, who caught the ball and anticipated the Siakam close-out, so he stayed home. Brown double-pumped a corner three with 5.7 ticks left. After a Pacers timeout and advance of the basketball, Nembhard inbounded it to Haliburton who drove horizontally across the court and took a desperate fadeaway three that missed everything to conclude regulation.

After a rather quiet fourth quarter in which Tatum didn’t record a field goal in the last nine minutes of regulation including a couple of glaring underwhelming clutch shot attempts, Tatum lit up overtime with 10 points scored including five of those points coming from the charity stripe as he maintained his aggression putting pressure on the Pacers’ paint defense. Tatum ended the game with 36 points (12/26 FG, 10/12 FT), 12 rebounds, four assists, and a team-best team-best of +20. Tatum converted an and-one layup after taking advantage of a Nembhard mismatch and then hitting the freebie to put the Celtics up 124-123 with 1:12 left in OT. Next possession Haliburton brought the ball up past half-court but a hounding Jrue Holiday pressured Haliburton enough for him to turn the ball over, dribbling it off his hand/leg with 1:02 on the clock. On the very next possession, Derrick White initiated a pick and roll from just inside the logo with Jayson Tatum. Haliburton and Nembhard surprisingly attempted to trap White as he drove hard going left, leaving Tatum open at the top of the three-point line. White stopped in his tracks once he reached the paint, pump-faked, then turned around and fired a pass back to Tatum who then pump-faked a Nembhard contest before sinking the game-sealing triple to give the Celtics a 127-123 lead with 42.8 seconds left in the game. Jaylen Brown stripped Pascal Siakam of the ball on the Pacers’ next possession with 37.6 seconds left on the clock and after some continued game of keep away, the Celtics were able to close Game 1 and take a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Jrue Holiday (28 points, seven rebounds, eight assists) and Jaylen Brown (26 points, seven rebounds, five assists) did a phenomenal job getting downhill and taking advantage of their physical gifts against a rather small Pacers group of guards and putting pressure on them at the cup. “Jrue [Holiday] was fantastic, Jrue was exceptional, and shout out to Jrue, Jrue came out and balled, he’s the reason why we won this game. I think he just was poised, he took advantage of his matchups, and he was just so elite. And that’s a lot and he’s guarding [Tyrese] Haliburton, picking him up, chasing him around, that was special from Jrue Holiday,” said Brown about his teammate’s efforts in Game 1. The All-Defense guard held Haliburton to 0/3 FG shooting and two turnovers in 5:00 total matchup time.

The only main concern I have for the Boston Celtics going forward is how Celtics’ head coach Joe Mazzulla will manage the non-Al Horford minutes until Kristaps Porzings returns. Horford (178 career playoff appearances) played 40 minutes in Game 1 including 12 three-point attempts. It seems the Pacers formula for attempting to slow down the Celtics’ offensive flow was to make Horford beat them especially, from the perimeter. Horford is shooting 30% from deep this postseason. Horford doesn’t stretch defenses quite like Kristaps Porzingis but his value as a rebounder, back-line defender, and passer out of the post are all very important components to how the Celtics operate on both sides of the floor. Horford is a major reason why the Celtics’ still are sustaining a 118.8 offensive rating, which is good for second amongst all NBA Playoff teams. Sam Hauser was scoreless in nine minutes. Luke Kornet played 13 minutes in total. Xavier Tillman was out for Game 1 due to personal reasons but is reportedly available for Game 2 so his minutes may be vital in order to preserve Horford enough until closing stretches. Not sure if there’s more there are more defensive options specifically for the pick-and-roll. The Celtics must minimize the Pacers desire to pick apart Horford in drop coverages

The Indiana Pacers shot 37% from the three-point line in Game 1. A lot of that was a result of their constant movement and Haliburton’s remarkable floor-raising capabilities. The Pacers love to initiate their transition regardless of whether it’s off a make or miss; they want to get up and down the floor on their opponents. If Celtics’ defensive guards/wings in White, Holiday, Brown, and Tatum can contain Haliburton’s penetration, run him off the three-point line, and play a more physical brand of basketball, I think they can throw a wrench into one of the NBA’s potent offensive units. (Haliburton shot 3-10 combined against White/Holiday/Brown/Tatum in Game 1) Doing so would ultimately make this series a lot shorter than at first glance.