A key halftime break and total team effort help Indiana Pacers overcome Boston Celtics after Tyrese Haliburton injury
The Indiana Pacers were hosting the best team in the NBA on Monday night in the Boston Celtics, and while Boston was without star wing Jayson Tatum, they were still a threatening bunch. The Celtics entered the day undefeated without Tatum in the lineup and held the NBA's best record.
With 3:10 to go in the second quarter, Boston led by six points when tragedy struck the Pacers. Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who had seven points and six assists at the time, slid awkwardly under the basket on the South end of Gainbridge Fieldhouse. He was immediately in pain. His teammates carried him off the floor as he groaned. "It was emotional," Pacers guard Buddy Hield said of the moment.
The Pacers, in a game against one of the league's best squads, lost their best player. "Tyrese's injury situation is a very deflating moment," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said after the game.
In the next few minutes of action, the Celtics ballooned their lead to 11. That was their largest lead of the night, and they entered halftime up by nine. At that point, Jaylen Brown had 25 points for the visitors and looked fantastic. Without Haliburton, it looked like the blue and gold were toast. They had no momentum and no energy.
At the break, though, they made a decision to fight. It would be tough without their star, but the Pacers were doing well enough without him to that point. They wanted to win, both because they were playing a marquee opponent and because they hoped to step up for their injured teammate.
Haliburton was in the locker room at halftime. Hield shared that the injured guard still had a towel over his head. Bruce Brown said that the star didn't say anything and kept his head down.
His presence was invigorating, though. The Pacers badly wanted to step up for their teammate and friend. A measly nine-point deficit wasn't going to keep them down.
"Positive, giving guys energy," Hield said of Haliburton's presence in the locker room at the break.
In the first few minutes of the third quarter, the Pacers used the energy Haliburton gave them to surge back into the game. It took them less than three minutes to cut the Celtics' advantage down to three. Everyone was contributing. Andrew Nembhard started the second half at point guard, and the new-look lineup caught up quickly.
Boston tried to stay steady, but a three from Bruce Brown tied the game at 80 with 8:16 left in the third period. The deflating moment was a thing of the past. The Pacers were ready to crush the Celtics.
"We were able to band together and make something happen. When a star goes down like that, it's important for everybody to come together," center Myles Turner said after the game.
The two teams traded the lead for the next few minutes, and Indiana led 103-101 after three quarters. It was an impressive comeback, and the Pacers significantly raised their level after halftime. They scored 44 points in the third quarter with four different players scoring at least seven points in the frame.
It was a total team effort. T.J. McConnell was brilliant both as a scorer and distributor. Bruce Brown, Aaron Nesmith, and Turner combined to shoot 6/8 from the field and make plays on both ends. The entire roster looked great.
"It was very tough," Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin said of overcoming Haliburton's injury. "I feel like we had pretty good guys who [filled] a pretty good role."
Mathurin was special in the fourth quarter, scoring nine points. Hield was excellent as well with 10. Hield and Haliburton are close, and Hield called Haliburton his brother postgame.
The Celtics finally recaptured their momentum late in the game. Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis scored seven points in 65 seconds to give Boston a lead with 1:05 to go. They turned the tide of the game.
But the resilient Pacers didn't quit. McConnell tied the game up on Indiana's next possession, and the whole team defended well in the final minute. They forced missed shots and snagged rebounds. They gave themselves a chance to win as they held the ball with three seconds left.
Moments later, Mathurin turned and attempted a game-winning shot. He drew a foul on Porzingis, and the second-year guard canned two free throws. That pushed the blue and gold to a 133-131 win without Haliburton for over half the game. They got it done.
"I told him to go get a bucket," Bruce Brown said of what he told Mathurin in the second half. The veteran guard was happy with how the team stuck together down the stretch.
It was an impressive, emotional win for the Pacers. They were 1-2 without Haliburton this season prior to the game, and they were losing by double-digits just after the star went down with his injury. They could have phoned it in right then.
But they didn't. Instead, they outplayed their opponent and found a way to win. It was spectacular and gave Indiana something to build off of going forward.
"When your best player goes down like that, it's hard not to deflate a little bit as a team," Nesmith said. The team regrouped and did well to not let it impact their play.
Haliburton has a Grade 1 hamstring strain and is going to be re-evaluated in two weeks. He's going to miss at least seven games, and likely a few more than that. The Pacers will have to manage without him.
They showed in the second half on Monday that they can have enough success without their star. It will be difficult, but the Pacers can nab a few wins in Haliburton's absence. They will have to continue to play with emotion and move the ball well, but the blueprint for the Pacers next few outings was revealed last night.
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