I wrote the original title to this blog after Joe Mazzulla challenged the Pascial Siakham layup that was originally called goaltending at 11:25 left in the first quarter - it read: 'Celtics Dominate Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Boston'.
After starting the game on a 12-0 run where the Pacers looked completely outmatched, the Celtics indeed had some luck on their side to get this Game 1 victory in overtime with a final of 133-128.
The Pacers came back and kept it close, as one media mogul predicted they would, hanging around into the second quarter, and tying it up at half with a DEEP Tyrese Halliburton 3.
Felt like the Celtics were going to pull away in the third, as they came out in a matchup zone that significantly hurt the flow of Indiana, but they let 'em hang around, Halliburton made another dumb 3 pointer (if you watch it back, it does legitimately look dumb), and any Celtics fan watching knew they were in for a battle going into the 4th.
Pacers had it in the bag up 3 with 8.5 seconds, a timeout, and the ball - but the youth and inexperience came out as Andrew Nemhard's pass hit off of Pascial Siakham's fingers, went out of bounds, and gave the favorites one more chance at home. If you've got your sword on Goliath's neck, you've gotta finish that job, and that the Pacers did not do:
Jayson Tatum finally woke up in overtime (Jaylen Brown's words, not mine but also mine) and the Celtics were able to get it done on Causeway Street. A few key takeaways:
1) The Pacers are for real - this lineup is deep and well constructed - they played 10 guys to the Celtics' 8 and outscored the Celtic bench 30-13, with Obi Toppin leading that charge at 6/8 from the floor and 15 points. These boys shoot like Jimmy Chitwood in the actual movie 'Hoosiers' - 53.3% from 3 and 53.5% overall for the game to the Celtics' 47.5%. Felt like a higher percentage watching it back; if you had told me they shot 60% I would've believed you.
Luckily the Celtics were able to make up the gap by tripling up the Pacer on free throw attempts - 30 to 10. This was the key difference, as they both took 99 shots, but Boston was able to play solid defense without fouling. Speaking of defense...
2) Myles Turner is a problem. Dynamic, all-star caliber player - maybe folks already know this, maybe this is TI calling me out for not watching enough basketball in the regular season - and that dude was dominating Al Horford and Luke Kornet in the first half and crazy efficient! 9-13 from the floor is unheard of, especially with the level of difficulty on a lot of his shots. Porzingis back will help at depth of the bigs - hopefully he feels compelled to get back in after this game tonight.
3) Al Horford - Al was the clear target of the Pacers on defense, as whomever he had on the switch was very aggressive, big or little. This gave old Al some great opportunities to make plays on the defensive end, which he did at times, and when guys are making pull up mid-range jumpers like Nesmith and Nembhard were, sometimes ya just gotta shake their hands. 3/12 from 3 is not cutting it - I know Al was excited about hitting 6 3's in game 5 against the Cavs, but this is one of the best shots the Pacers are more or less giving to the Celtics, and they are saying 'if Al Horford beats us, he beats us.' Sneaky reminds me of the 2022 playoff run when Grant Williams his 7 3's in clinching game 7 against Milwaukee, but same idea. Do the Celtics like that percentage from 3 going forward? I'm sure Mazzulla can come up with some sabermetrics to make it sound good (like fouling when Pacers in the bonus up 6 with 12 seconds to go) but as a viewer, can't say it's my favorite strategy.
4) Tatum sneaky disappeared again in the 4th before stepping up in OT - this is the one thing Celtics fans worry most about is when the team gets down 5 with 2:00 or 3:00 to go, where is the ball going? Does Jayson want to be the one making the play or responding off of Jaylen or Derrick creating at the top of the key? We see confusion at times, and the case was similar tonight - Tatum was in the corner on a few possessions without getting a touch, and had a bad turnover on a lazy pass to Holliday on a pick and roll by the logo. When the offense is flowing and they have a comfortable lead, the Celtics look damn good - but they will (at some point) have to play from a deficit, and that stall action does come up with some concern. But you gotta give this man credit - he puts up NUMBERS:
5) Celtics scored on an inbounds play under the hoop in the first half - great teams score in inbounds plays under the hoop, that was awesome.
6) Derrick White - also good. I sneaky like him as the creator for the Jays when the boys need a bucket and get into a pinch. Let him get downhill and kick to the Jays off the wings, seems to be where they are most comfortable and they can slash in pressure moments.
7) Make Tyrese Halliburton beat you and don't let Siahkam get going too much if you're the Celtics - he looked damn good tonight, credit to him, and he has championship experience with the Raptors in 2019. Like his midrange game a lot.
I'll send this over to Joe as he wraps up his 10th viewing of 'The Town' this week and hope it can be of some assistance back east.
Way to steal this one at home, Celtics! This is a real series and I'm glad they see that now. Green and white will be ready to go for game 2. What a picture:
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