Indiana Pacers get a taste of Boston Celtics Big Three; Collapse late to surrender 86 -72: NBA Recap
On Saturday night, the Boston Celtics visited the Indiana Pacers at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN.
With their reputation on the line, ‘The Big Three’ of Boston might have just come up big at the right time. Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen combined together for 25 points in the fourth period as the Celtics defeated the
Pacers, 86-72 stopping Indiana`s four game winning streak right there.
Pierce was the highest scorer for the Celtics with 24 points; Garnett managed to score 10 of his total of 15 points in the fourth quarter. Ray Allen also had a good night as he came off the bench for the second consecutive game
to score 19 points.
Danny Granger put up 20 points for the Pacers; David West scored 16 while the only other player for Indiana who managed to score in double figures was Darren Collison with 13 points.
The Celtics have been in excellent form since the All-Star break and currently hold the second best record in the league since that time. This win helped them improve to 16-7 in the latter half of the season snapping a two game
losing streak behind a true veteran performance from their old yet not faded players.
The key to winning this matchup for Boston was the overall defensive effort as they held the Pacers to a season low of points by only allowing them to shoot 35.1% from the field. The other significant factor in this win was the
unselfishness of the Celtic players. They shared the ball extremely well on the night by dishing out 27 assists. Rajon Rondo led Boston in that department as he ran the Celtic offence like clockwork throughout the night ending the game with 12 assists. This
was Rondo`s 16th consecutive game in which he has had double digit assists clearly suggesting the fact that he has been having an excellent season since the All-Star break.
Boston`s cause was also helped out by their shooting from long range; they shot 50% from beyond the arc. Ray Allen connected 5 times from the three point line on his 11 attempts.
Boston who had held the lead for the entire game did seem to be in cruise control till the half way stage as they held a 10 point advantage. The Pacers did offer some resistance in the second half; they went on an 11-2 run late
in the third quarter to chip down the lead to 57-51 with 48.9 seconds remaining in the period.
The Celtics responded back with great composure. Helped by the experience of their ‘Big Three’, they laid rest to any chances of an Indiana comeback. Garnett, Allen and Pierce then went on a scoring spree in the final quarter of
the game to help Boston win this one.
In recent games, Allen has been given a role in the second unit to help improve the bench scoring. He had asked Doc Rivers to put Avery Bradley in his place as a starter and now seems to be relishing the new role.
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