Isaiah Thomas Leads Boston To Victory Over Indiana
INDIANAPOLIS -- Isaiah Thomas scored 12 of his 23 points during the final 4:19 and the Boston Celtics defeated the Indiana Pacers 105-99 on Saturday night in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Thomas led Boston (5-4) and Kelly Olynyk added 16 points, helping the Celtics hand the Paul George-less Pacers (4-6) their first home defeat.
George, who is averaging 21.9 points, suffered a sprained left ankle in Friday night's overtime loss at Philadelphia and could not play.
Jeff Teague led Indiana with 20 points and Myles Turner added 17, but the Pacers had no answer for Thomas, who was 6 of 6 from the free throw line during the final 1:22 and finished 14 of 15 for the game.
CJ Miles' 3-pointer with 23 seconds remaining pulled Indiana within 103-99, but two Thomas free throws with 20.5 seconds to go iced it.
The Pacers were outscored 27-21 from the free throw line and made only 6 of 27 shots from 3-point range. Boston also outrebounded Indiana 47-40.
James Young's 3-pointer from the right corner with two seconds remaining gave Boston a 79-76 lead at the end of three quarters. The Pacers led by as many as five in the quarter, but Thomas and Young combined for 18 third-quarter points, helping the Celtics maintain their halftime advantage.
Boston made only 7 of 17 shots from the field in the third quarter but was 13 of 16 from the free throw line in the quarter.
Trailing 45-35 with 3:33 remaining in the second quarter, the Celtics finished the first half on a 13-0 run, which included three 3-pointers, and led 48-45 through 24 minutes.
Olynyk had 12 points, five rebounds and three assists to lead the Celtics at halftime, and Amir Johnson and Terry Rozier each added eight.
NOTES: The Celtics were without C Al Horford (concussion protocol) and F Jae Crowder (left ankle sprain). ... The Pacers were without G Rodney Stuckey (right hamstring sprain). ... Each team was playing the second game of a back to back. Boston defeated New York 115-87 on Friday night and Indiana dropped a 109-105 overtime game at Philadelphia. ... The Pacers entered this game ranked 29th in scoring defense (112.8) and the Celtics came in ranked 27th (109.5). ... Boston is second in assists (26.4) and Indiana is third in opponents' turnovers (16.9). ... The Pacers won last season's series 3-1 and have won five of six most recent regular-season meetings. ... Indiana G CJ Miles came in shooting 52.4 percent (22 of 42) from 3-point range. ... The Pacers' Paul George, Myles Turner and Jeff Teague each has had a game high of 30 points.