With Jaylen Brown out, Celtics lose to last-place Pacers

Down their two finest gamers, the Celtics misplaced to one of many NBA’s worst groups Monday evening in Indiana.

Pacers ahead Pascal Siakam’s jumper within the lane with 6.8 seconds secured a 98-96 win over Boston, which was enjoying with out main scorer Jaylen Brown for the third time this season.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla took concern with the play that led to Siakam’s make, repeating “unlawful display” a number of instances throughout a postgame information convention that lasted lower than one minute.

Brown, who’s posted career-best numbers whereas co-star Jayson Tatum recovers from Achilles surgical procedure, was dominated out with low again spasms. Poor perimeter taking pictures doomed the crew in his absence, because the Celtics went simply 9-for-35 from 3-point vary (26%) within the loss.

Payton Pritchard (23 factors, 10-of-22 taking pictures), Derrick White (18 factors, 7-for-21) and Anfernee Simons (16 factors, 7-for-15) have been Boston’s main scorers, with Neemias Queta delivering a robust efficiency at middle with 15 factors on 7-of-9, eight rebounds, two steals and one block.

White had an opportunity to win the sport as time expired, however his deep three caromed off the again of the rim.

The loss, which opened a four-game street journey, was the Celtics’ third of their final 4 video games. They’ll go to the Miami Warmth on Wednesday evening.

Indiana misplaced 13 straight video games from mid-December to early January — together with two towards Boston — however entered Monday on a two-game win streak. They improved to 9-31, whereas Boston fell to 24-15.

With Brown unavailable, Mazzulla gave the nod to Baylor Scheierman, who grew to become the eleventh completely different Celtic to begin a recreation this season. The second-year wing was coming off a strong efficiency in Saturday’s loss to San Antonio, scoring 10 factors in 23 minutes and enjoying aggressive protection towards Spurs celebrity Victor Wembanyama.

Scheierman’s solely profession begin earlier than Monday got here within the ultimate week of final season, when Boston was resting its high gamers to arrange for the playoffs. He joined White, Pritchard, Sam Hauser and Queta within the beginning 5 towards Indiana, with Hauser returning after lacking the Spurs matchup with hamstring tightness.

The Celtics obtained two early steals from Scheierman throughout a low-scoring first quarter, which ended with Boston forward, 24-19. Each offenses opened up within the second.

After beginning a mixed 3-for-14 from 3-point vary, the Celtics and Pacers drilled 9 threes in lower than 4 minutes early within the second quarter. Two of Boston’s got here from Simons, who paced the Celtics with 14 first-half factors off the bench.

Boston’s sixth man scored on three consecutive Celtics possessions to halt an 8-0 Pacers run. Then, Boston’s beginning guards assumed management, with White and Pritchard combining to attain their crew’s ultimate 11 factors of the primary half. These included the Celtics’ personal 8-0 run, which helped ship them into halftime with a 56-53 lead.

Then, the C’s went chilly. Their first level of the third quarter didn’t come till the 7:32 mark, when Queta stole an errant move and flushed a driving dunk. Boston solely trailed by three at that time, however back-to-back Pacers makes off Celtics turnovers stretched the result in 10 and triggered Mazzulla’s second timeout of the quarter.

His gamers appeared to get the message.

After the Pacers scored twice extra to make it 73-60, the Celtics began chipping away. They cleaned up their ball safety, upped their defensive stress and commenced relentlessly attacking the basket. Of the ten subject objectives Boston made within the third quarter, 9 have been pictures within the paint, and 7 have been on the rim. Its lone perimeter make was a second-chance Pritchard 3-pointer off a Luka Garza offensive rebound.

Pritchard adopted up that triple with three straight layups. Jordan Walsh — who made one of many defensive performs of the interval when he smothered Aaron Nesmith to drive a bounce ball — scored with a nifty beneath end on the following Celtics possession, and Garza added a jumper within the lane that lower Indiana’s result in 79-77.

It took one other 11 1/2 minutes, nonetheless, for Boston to shut that hole. When Queta threw down a strong one-handed slam to make it 83-81 Pacers, Indiana responded with a 3-pointer to pad its cushion. When Pritchard misplaced management of the ball, dove on the ground to get well it and fed a move to White for an open three, Andrew Nembhard canned a 3 of his personal a minute later.

A working layup by White tied the sport with 29.1 seconds remaining, however Siakam scored the controversial game-winner on the following possession.

Brown fined $35,000

Brown, who stated he’d “take the (expletive) wonderful” for his criticism of officers after Saturday’s Celtics-Spurs recreation, acquired his punishment Monday.

The NBA fined the Boston star $35,000 for his expletive-filled feedback, throughout which he referred to as referee Curtis Blair and his crew “horrible” and stated he’s “uninterested in the inconsistency” of foul calls “each time (the Celtics) play crew.”

The Celtics tried simply 4 free throws, tied for the second-lowest single-game whole in franchise historical past, of their 100-95 loss to San Antonio at TD Backyard. Brown performed a season-high 43 minutes within the recreation, tried 28 pictures and earned zero journeys to the foul line.

“They will wonderful me no matter they need,” Brown stated postgame. “But it surely’s loopy. Each time we play crew, it’s the identical (BS). Any individual please pull up the clips. I’m irate at how they officiated the sport at this time. … I’m driving to the basket. I’m bodily. I don’t flop. I don’t shrink back from contact. I am going up sturdy. I’m athletic. And nothing. Zero free throws tonight. The inconsistency is (expletive) loopy. Give me the wonderful.”