Jaylen Brown took over and everything else that went right for the Celtics in Game 2

BOSTON -- Jaylen Brown is having himself an Eastern Conference Finals. We're only two games into the series against the Indiana Pacers, but Brown has pretty much taken over.

Those All-NBA voters may want to reconsider their thoughts on Brown after leaving him off all three All-NBA teams this year. Jaylen Brown isn't one of the 15 best players in the league? Really?

He made an emphatic statement against that narrative on Thursday night. 

After saving the day with his game-tying three in Game 1, Brown went off for 40 points in Game 2, leading the Celtics to a 126-110 win and a commanding 2-0 series lead. The 40-point outburst matched his playoff career high, and gave Boston its sixth victory by 15 or more points this postseason. 

It boils down to this: If a team isn't having a historic shooting night, they aren't beating the Celtics. The six 15-plus point wins matches the team-record in a postseason, set by the 1984, 1986, and 2008 Boston Celtics. All three of those teams went on to win titles.

The Celtics are now just six wins away from accomplishing that goal. Here's everything that went right for Boston -- and a few things that went wrong -- in Thursday night's Game 2 victory.

Everything that went right for the Celtics in Game 2 win over the Pacers

Jaylen Brown was a monster

Brown got the crowd into the game by hitting a three for Boston's first bucket of the game, and then proceeded to drop 24 in the first half. He had 17 in the second quarter alone, and scored half of the team's points on a 20-0 run that swung the game.

Brown was in full attack mode all game, scoring his 40 points on 14-for-27 shooting, and he got to the line 11 times, connecting on eight of his freebies. He also pulled down five rebounds, and though he only had two assists, Brown's slashing was imperitive to Boston's ball movement. He also only turned the ball over twice.

Was he motivated by that All-NBA snub? Maybe. But Brown has that look in his eyes where he's going to do anything and everything to win a title. Teams can try to stop him, but it doesn't look like anything will slow down Jaylen Brown at this point.

Jrue Holiday was nearly perfect

Jrue Holiday is the perfect teammate and the perfect leader. He was nearly perfect from the floor in Game 2, hitting six of his seven shots and three of four from three-point range for 15 points. 

He also dished out 10 assists, and his lone turnover was a nonsense travel call by Scott Foster. In conclusion, Jrue Holiday is the perfect Celtic.

The Celtics owned the paint in Game 2

The Celtics still took 37 threes, so they are still hoisting plenty of those. But Boston outscored Indiana 54-34 in the paint, after owning just a 58-56 edge in Game 1. 

Brown did a lot of damage under the basket, hitting seven of his nine shots under the hoop while going 8-for-10 overall in the paint. Tatum was 3-for-6 at the rim, and 5-for-9 from the paint. Holiday and Derrick White were a combined 7-for-8 in the restricted area.

Imagine the damage these guys will do when Kristaps Porzingis returns.

Boston's smallball lineup worked

The Celtics lost Luke Kornet to a wrist injury, which forced Joe Mazzulla to go with a smallball lineup that featured Oshae Brissett at the four and Tatum at the five. And it worked wonders against Indy.

Brissett -- a former Pacer -- was a plus-18 in his 12 minutes on the floor, snagging three rebounds and swiping three steals. He only scored two points, but he wasn't on the floor to score. He allowed the Celtics to become completely switchable on defense, and his impact in Game 2 should earn him more playing time come Saturday night in Indiana.

The Celtics won a Game 2

Rejoice! The Game 2 losing streak is over. 

Everything that went wrong for the Celtics in Game 2 win over the Pacers

Jayson Tatum was MIA for the first half

It wasn't a huge deal because Brown was in take-over mode, but Tatum had a brutal first half. He was just 1-for-6 in the first quarter, and went into the locker room with four points off 2-for-8 shooting. 

The constant double teams that Indy threw at him certainly played into that low output, but Tatum did very little to build off his 10-point overtime session in Game 1. He woke up in the second half and finished with 24 points, but he hit just one of his seven threes for the night.

Tatum is hitting just 20 percent of his threes this series, and 27.8 percent for the postseason. He continues to make an impact elsewhere, and no one should discount his work at the five in Game 2. But boy does he really need an efficient, Brown-like game offensively. 

The Celtics had no answer for Pascal Siakam

He was the only reason the Pacers kept the game close in the first half, scoring 16 points before halftime. Indiana's bouncy big shot 13-for-17 on the night and finished with 28 points for Indiana.

Luke Kornet got hurt

Usually this wouldn't be a big deal. But with Porzingis still on the mend and Al Horford looking like his age, not having Kornet could hurt the Celtics as the series heads to Indiana.

At least Brissett came up big Thursday night, giving Boston some confidence in its smaller lineup.