The Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers return to the court on Tuesday for the second game of their doubleheader.
The Pacers won the first game, 108-107 on Sunday.
WHERE/WHEN: Indianapolis; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Indiana will attempt to keep its three-game win streak alive when the Pacers take on Boston.
Indiana finished 45-28 overall and 25-11 at home in the 2019-20 season. The Pacers gave up 107.5 points per game while committing 19.8 fouls last season.
Boston went 48-24 overall and 30-13 in Eastern Conference play during the 2019-20 season. The Celtics shot 46.1% from the field and 36.4% from 3-point range last season.
INJURIES: Pacers: Brian Bowen II: out (groin), Goga Bitadze: out (right ankle), Jeremy Lamb: out (knee), Edmond Sumner: day to day (illness).
Celtics: Tacko Fall: out (eye), Romeo Langford: out (right wrist), Kemba Walker: out (left knee).
LAST TIME OUT: With Indiana down one in the final seconds Sunday, coach Nate Bjorkgren asked Domantis Sabontis to bail out the Pacers.
The All-Star forward delivered. He put the ball on the floor, drove hard toward the basket, muscled in the go-ahead layup and drew a foul with 8.4 seconds to play.
Sure he missed the free throw, but Indiana’s defense forced an errant 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left and held on for a 108-107 victory over Boston.
“Coach is a genius. He has a different play for everything,” Sabonis said. “He trusts every single one of us and that makes it easier for the players. We all trust him and just try to execute as best we can.”
So far, Sabonis has thrived in Bjorkgren’s new system.
He followed Saturday’s triple-double, with 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists — his third double-double in three games and No. 100 in his career.
And Sabonis had plenty of help, too.
Malcolm Brogdon scored a season-high 25 points and T.J. Warren added 17 as the Pacers improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2013-14, sweeping their first back-to-back of the season — barely.
“Yes, it was designed that way,” Bjorkgren said after drawing up the play for Sabonis during Indiana’s final timeout. “But I thought the other four guys really moved and shifted the defense, too, and that helped open it up for Domas.”
The Celtics spent most of the second half playing catch up before finally taking a 107-106 lead when Robert Williams III stole an inbound pass and found Marcus Smart for a breakaway layup with 11.8 seconds to go.
After a missed free throw Sabonis, Boston called timeout to set up a play and Jayson Tatum’s long 3 was off the mark. Tatum finished with 25 points and Jaylen Brown had 18 as the Celtics lost their second straight.
“We definitely beat ourselves tonight and there was still an opportunity to win the game,” Brown said. “We gave it up at the end. We’ve got to come back and be better, be more physical and more solid on defense.”