Celtics take 2-0 lead over Pacers after Jaylen Brown masterclass

On Thursday night at the Garden the Boston Celtics hosted the Indiana Pacers looking to take a 2-0 series lead after a miraculous rabbit out of the hat win in game 1. The Celtics got late game heroics from Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and Jayson Tatum to come back from the brink of defeat and steal one from Indiana. The questions heading into game 2 would mostly all be on how Indiana would react to letting one get away in game 1.

David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

First Quarter:

Indiana would start off better in game 2 after going down 12-0 early in game 1 they scored the first basket of the night and looked steady early on. A small thing to look for tonight was could a slighted Jaylen Brown who was left off the All-NBA and All-NBA defensive teams be a little extra motivated to show he was deserving of those honors. I don’t think Jaylen needs any more motivation but any possible edge in the playoffs can’t hurt.

Boston would keep it’s same rotations from game 1 as Pritchard and Kornet were the first two players off the bench for the Celtics. Indiana would continue to hit their midrange jumpers early and build an 18-17 lead with 5:11 to go in the first.

Indiana would continue to play well but couldn’t separate themselves as Payton Pritchard would hit a 3 pointer to cut into the Pacers lead with 3:39 left in the first to make it a 23-20 game. The Pacers lights out shooting from midrange would continue as they were 9-14 from the field to start the game. Boston would struggle to hold onto the ball the final 3 minutes of the quarter but Indiana would struggle to capitalize only leading by two 27-25 at the end of the first quarter.

End 1st Quarter G2

Pacers 27
Celtics 25

🏀McConnell 7 pts
🏀Brown 7 pts
🏀Holiday 5 pts, 3 assists
🏀Pritchard 5
🏀Tatum 2 pts, 2 assists and played whole quarter
🏀Bos and Indy 3-9 from three@wbz #NBA pic.twitter.com/jSZGpkaJUt

— Dan Roche (@RochieWBZ) May 24, 2024

• Second Quarter:

  Boston would start to take advantage of their size early in the second quarter abusing the Pacers on the glass. Getting 4 offensive rebounds on one possession leading to an eventual Jaylen Brown layup to give Boston a 29-27 lead. The Celtics had 9 offensive rebounds in the first 14 minutes of the game, so while they weren’t playing or shooting well early their rebounding fueled them to a lead. Boston would continue to dominate in the second quarter going on a 20-0 run led by Jaylen Brown to take a 40-27 lead with 8:01 to go in the half.

  Zack Cox on Twitter: "The Pacers don't have an answer for Jaylen Brown right now. He's up to 17 points already, and the Celtics are on an 18-0 run. / Twitter"

  The Pacers don't have an answer for Jaylen Brown right now. He's up to 17 points already, and the Celtics are on an 18-0 run.

  Maybe Jaylen Brown was feeling extra motivation after the All-NBA teams were released because he was far and away the best player on the floor in the first half impacting the game on both ends. The Pacers who were lights out in the first quarter were held scoreless for 6:29 before finally getting a pair of Aaron Nesmith free throws to make it a 42-29 game with 7:04 to go in the second. Indiana would continue to cut into Boston’s lead with a Tyrese Haliburton three making it an 8 point game with just under 5 minutes to go in the half.

  Jrue Holiday would kill any momentum the Pacers had though with a big 3 pointer and a defensive stop leading to a Jaylen Brown bucket to get Boston’s lead up to 13, 56-43 with 1:52 left in the half. Jaylen Brown’s would continue to be the story though as he was up to 23 points in 16 minutes making it look easy against the Pacers defense.

• Noa Dalzell 🏀 on Twitter: "Celtics should probably be up by more at the half, but with Derrick White and Jayson Tatum combined for 3-15 shooting, it's not a terrible place to be. Pascal Siakam (16 points, 9-17 shooting) really kept Indiana in this one. / Twitter"

  Celtics should probably be up by more at the half, but with Derrick White and Jayson Tatum combined for 3-15 shooting, it's not a terrible place to be. Pascal Siakam (16 points, 9-17 shooting) really kept Indiana in this one.

  Third Quarter:

  Indiana would get back to their first quarter shooting ways in the second led by an insane Pascal Siakam shooting game, Siakam had 26 points on 12/16 shooting to cut Boston’s lead to 75-68 with 5:15 to go in the third. Boston would continue to struggle at times but the Pacers just couldn’t close the lead, a Jaylen Brown 3 with 4:17 to go in the half would give Boston an 80-71 lead. Boston would get contributions from former Pacer Oshae Brissett off the bench hitting a layup on a great pass by Brown to give the Celtics an 11 point lead.

  The Pacers would refuse to go away but with Brown’s stellar performance and Tatum finally starting to hit shots in the third quarter the gap was tough to close. Jayson Tatum would hit his 4th bucket in a row to give Boston a 93-78 lead with 55 seconds to go in the third quarter. Boston would lead by 13 at the end of the third quarter 93-80 looking to take a decisive 2-0 series lead.

• Alex Barth on Twitter: "END 3Celtics 93Pacers 80BROWN: 33 points, 12/22 FG, 5 reboundsWHITE: 16 points, 5/12 FGHOLIDAY: 12 points, 5/6 FG, 8 assistsTATUM: 12 points, 6/14 FG, 6 rebounds, 5 assistsSIAKAM: 26 points, 12/16 FG / Twitter"

  END 3Celtics 93Pacers 80BROWN: 33 points, 12/22 FG, 5 reboundsWHITE: 16 points, 5/12 FGHOLIDAY: 12 points, 5/6 FG, 8 assistsTATUM: 12 points, 6/14 FG, 6 rebounds, 5 assistsSIAKAM: 26 points, 12/16 FG

  Fourth Quarter:

  Boston would start the fourth leading by 13 trying to take advantage of a near perfect Jaylen Brown game. Jayson Tatum would get an and-1 early into the fourth to give Boston a 96-82 lead with 10:36 to go. The Celtics were in a familiar position last game but let Indiana back into the game would they be able to tell a different story tonight. Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton would be ruled out of the game with left leg soreness with 9 minutes to go a massive blow to the Pacers.

  The Jaylen Brown show would continue with a driving layup to give him 35 points and the Celtics a 104-86 lead with 7:26 to go. A bizarre scuffle halfway through the fourth would lead to a Sam Hauser and Isaiah Jackson double technical. Jayson Tatum who struggled in the first half really picked it up in the second half finally hitting a 3 pointer to give Boston a 113-94 lead with 5 minutes to go in the game. Now Boston just needed to play a little defense minimize their mental lapses and they’d be 2 wins away from the NBA Finals.

  Indiana would try and cut into the lead but Rick Carlisle couldn’t find the right lineup to match the Celtics in the second half. Tatum would hit an and-1 layup with 2:55 to go to make it a 117-102 game and Boston was on the verge of a 2-0 series lead. It was Jaylen Brown’s night and he’d hit the dagger to give himself 40 points tying a playoff career high, giving the Celtics a 121-104 lead. Boston now heads to Indiana on Saturday night looking to take a dominant 3-0 series lead and all the worries in Indiana will be about the health of their star Tyrese Haliburton. If the Pacers are without Haliburton it’s tough to imagine them winning more than 1 game with how Boston looked in game 2 winning decisively 126-110 .