Celtics lock in on defense to hang on for ugly win over Pacers

BOSTON -- The Celtics remain the best team in basketball with a 37-11 record following Tuesday night's win over the Pacers. But as great as it's been with the Celtics, it's not always going to be pretty.

That was the case Tuesday night, but Joe Mazzulla likes it that way. Yes, the Boston head coach likes when the going gets tough for his team.

But he has a good point: There isn't much to learn when a team wins in blowout fashion every night. Grinding out wins builds character, and sharpens a team's mettle for when things really start to count in the playoffs. Monday night's win over the Pelicans wasn't pretty, as the C's needed to overcome a 17-point first-half deficit, and Tuesday night was even uglier.

A hot start had the Celtics up by 20 points in the first half. They blew that edge with another troublesome third quarter, and then they let another double-digit lead slip away in the fourth quarter, giving the Pacers a chance to tie it in the final seconds by allowing a late 6-0 flurry by Indiana.

But in the end, the Celtics locked down on defense and made not one, but two defensive plays to secure the victory. 

"That's what I wanted," Mazzulla said after the win. "Perfect."

"Perfect" is one way to put it. "Ugly" would be another. But in the end, it was a win, and that's all that really matters in late January.

Overall, Boston played pretty well in the fourth quarter. They held the NBA's highest-scoring offense to just 21 points over the final 12 minutes, though it should be noted that All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton sat out the entire frame after hitting his minutes limit.

But there was some leakage by the Celtics, and it almost cost them the contest. After a Kristaps Porzingis bucket in the post put the Celtics up by nine, Boston let the Pacers rattle off six straight points in a 45-second span to make it a three-point game with 1:04 left. A Porzingis turnover of Boston's next possession gave Indiana a chance to tie things up with a deep ball.

But the Celtics did not get rattled. Instead, they smartened up and locked in on defense, which is exactly what Mazzulla wants to see from his team when things are tight and uncomfortable late in games.

The Celtics had a foul to give as Buddy Hield raced down the floor after that Porzingis turnover, and Derrick White wisely fouled him to stop an Indiana fast break. It let the Celtics set up their defense, and Mazzulla called the foul a "genius" play by his guard.

White followed it up by rejecting Aaron Nesmith's 3-point attempt in the corner, sending the game-tying bid into the stands with five seconds left in the game and 3.2 seconds left on the shot clock for Indiana. Mr. White is, after all, the one who blocks.

But the Celtics' work was not done. The ensuing inbound found Myles Turner on the baseline, but he was rejected by Jayson Tatum. That forced a shot-clock violation, and Jrue Holiday calmly made his two free throws on the other end to seal the win for Boston.

For good measure, Tatum added another block on Nesmith with 11 seconds left. He finished with a game-high 30 points to go with seven rebounds, seven assists and those two rejections.

Holiday isn't really down for blowing big leads, but agrees with Mazzulla that fighting through such adversity builds character that will come in handy further down the road.

"It's a learning experience," Holiday said after his 17-point evening. "We've got to be able to be battle-tested. We've got to be able to fight through everything, fight through expectations, fight through being up 20, and then somebody having a great third quarter and then finishing games. 

"If it feels easy the whole time, then what's the fun in that? No, I don't like blowing leads like that, but I think being able to battle back and win those is huge for us," Holiday added.

"You have to be able to win games with your defense," Mazzulla said. "I thought we had really good defense down the stretch, made some winning plays."

Winning clutch games -- 5-point games with five or fewer minutes left -- was not something the Celtics did very often over the last few years. But they are shining in those situations this season, going 15-8 when things are tight at the end of games. 

"I think we've been a lot better than we have been in previous years where we've been able to put teams away," said Jaylen Brown, who finished with 25 points and six rebounds in the win. "We've had only a handful of times that teams that have come back and found a way to win against us, even if it is a big lead. In the past, a lot of you guys remember, some of those results in losses. I think it's a step forward that in those moments of adversity, we still have found ways to win."