The Indiana Pacers didn’t make it easy on themselves but they ended their 3-game losing streak and won a basketball game against the best team in the NBA, the defending champion Boston Celtics in overtime 135-132 after Pascal Siakam scored 5 straight points in the final 36 seconds including the game-winning 3-pointer with 6.1 seconds left.
This game had zero business going to overtime as the Pacers led by 21 points with 8 minutes remaining but in classic Pacers fashion just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong in the final quarter whether it was bad turnovers, a streak of missed shots, giving up second chances, and the Celtics taking advantage of every Pacers error and of being able to play with a lot of contact on the defensive end without being called for fouls.
The Pacers did critical things better in this game; they made their free throws at a high percentage, they won the rebounding battle (57-51), and held the Celtics to just 40.4% shooting. Most importantly they are looking much more like themselves on the offensive end of the floor with the pace and quick ball movement lighting the Celtics defense on fire.
To the grades!
Player Grades Timestamps in the YouTube version:
1:57 Bennedict Mathurin
4:39 Pascal Siakam
6:10 Tyrese Haliburton
8:36 Isaiah Jackson
10:04 Ben Sheppard
11:24 Aaron Nesmith
12:28 TJ McConnell
13:02 Obi Toppin
14:13 Jarace Walker
15:42 Andrew Nembhard
Audio only:
Graphics and highlights below:
Pascal Siakam: A
Bennedict Mathurin: A
Tyrese Haliburton: B+
Isaiah Jackson: B+
Ben Sheppard: B+
T.J. McConnell: C+
Aaron Nesmith: B
Obi Toppin: C+
Jarace Walker: C-
iPacers - Indiana Pacers News 