Three takeaways as Tyrese Haliburton returns in Indiana Pacers blowout loss to Boston Celtics
The Indiana Pacers competed well with the Boston Celtics for 48 minutes during the first two battles between the teams this season, but that was not the case on Friday night.
This time, the game was only competitive for the first 25 or so minutes. The Pacers played a strong first half, grabbing a lead for a few moments in the first quarter and keeping the game close. At halftime, the Celtics lead was just five points.
Indiana was getting it done inside for the first 24 minutes. Center Myles Turner had 15 points at halftime, and the Pacers had 38 points in the paint at the break. They were playing well to open this game.
That quickly ended. 80 seconds into the third quarter, Boston expanded the lead to 12. The Pacers never got the deficit below 10 again. The Celtics rolled through the second half, and the blue and gold cleared their bench fairly early in the fourth quarter. It ended up being a blowout.
Pacers assistant coach Lloyd Pierce said at halftime on the Bally Sports Indiana broadcast that finding rhythm shots would be important in the second half. Indiana didn't do that. Their offense sputtered as they scored just 40 points in the final two quarters on their way to a 120-95 loss.
The Pacers didn't shoot it well, missed a ton of free throws, and turned the ball over 17 times. That formula will never work in the NBA, and the blue and gold showed why tonight.
Three takeaways stand out after a putrid outing by the Pacers, who play again tomorrow at 5 pm.
Shooting woes crushed the Pacers
It's impossible to win in the NBA when an opposing team makes 14 more threes, but that's what happened to the Pacers tonight. Boston hit 18 three-point shots while Indiana made just four.
The fewest triples the blue and gold had knocked down in a game this season prior to Friday was seven. It was far and away their worst three-point shooting night of the season, and it cost them. They never had a chance with accuracy that poor.
The Pacers are now 2-9 when they make fewer than 10 threes. For a team with so many shooters, knocking down outside shots is important, and they didn't tonight.
Indiana shook up its rotation
For the first time as a Pacer, guard Buddy Hield came off the bench tonight. The sweet-shooting veteran had started in all 99 games that he had played for Indiana so far, but in this game, he was with the second unit.
In his place, rookie guard Bennedict Mathurin got the start. Mathurin had a strong week leading up to this game, but the Celtics limited the first-year player to two points on four shot attempts. He looked invisible at times.
Hield finished with eight points on 2/9 shooting. Both players had rough offensive outings, though to be fair, most of the Pacers did. The team looked disconnected. It will be worth monitoring how the Pacers rotation looks down the stretch of the season.
Tyrese Haliburton returned from injury
After missing a half dozen games with knee and ankle injuries, All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton returned on Friday for his first action since March 9. He has been missed.
His impact was noticeable early on as he had six points and seven assists in just the first quarter. But he had some moments throughout the game where he didn't have his usual burst or he would land uniquely, suggesting he may not have been fully healthy.
Either way, he still had a solid outing, finishing with 20 points and nine assists in under 30 minutes. He hardly missed a beat.
A new look starting five and working in Haliburton again will take the Pacers some time to adjust to, but they won't have much. There are just eight games left in the team's season as they are now 33-41, and they play another game in under 24 hours. They will try to move on quickly from this loss.
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