Celtics don’t repeat history. They take care of business at home in Game 2
The Celtics did precisely what they needed to do in their 126-110 victory Thursday night, seizing a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
Go ahead and save this one in the file labeled: Business, completed with authority.
All right, fine, so that’s a dumb name for a file. But the point stands: the Celtics did precisely what they needed to do in their 126-110 victory over the Pacers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals Thursday night in seizing a 2-0 lead in the series.
This one is worth tucking away and remembering as this quest for Banner 18 continues, because it is the latest welcome indication that the Celtics are finally learning not to waste advantageous situations and add unnecessary degrees of difficulty to this championship pursuit.
That happened too often in seasons’ past — allowing the mediocre-at-best Hawks to take them to six games in the first round last season is one example.
It has happened far less this season, but we are scarred enough by past exasperations to anticipate frustrating plot twists along the postseason journey.
These Celtics stumbled into two this postseason — Game 2 losses to the Heat and then the Cavaliers in the first two playoff rounds. It must be noted that those are the Celtics’ only two playoff losses, not that we dwell on the negative.
On Thursday, there were no further Game 2 blues, thanks in large part — but hardly entirely — to Jaylen Brown.
Brown led the way from the start, pouring in 40 points, which matched his playoff high, while picking up the slack early for an oddly discombobulated Jayson Tatum. Brown scored 10 of his points during a 20-0 run that bridged the end of the first quarter through the first 5 minutes,15 seconds of the second, when the Celtics built a 42-27 lead.
Brown’s explosive performance in what has been a tremendous postseason for him overall came a day after he was excluded from the All-NBA team. Brown, a second-team choice last year, has a legitimate beef. He absolutely should have made it. C’mon, just one Celtic but two Lakers?
Still, while the snub is a bummer for Brown, you’d better believe it is beneficial for the Celtics. Vengeful Jaylen is often the best Jaylen, and it should be noted that he scored 30 more points than the Pacers’ third-team All-NBA choice, Tyrese Haliburton, who delivered a muted performance before departing in the third quarter with leg soreness.
This isn’t to suggest that the Celtics were flawless. With 1:24 left in the first quarter, Payton Pritchard had scored more points (5) than Tatum (2), Jrue Holiday (2), and Derrick White (0) combined. No knock on Pritchard, who was a spark yet again, but that’s not quite their ideal offensive scenario.
Meanwhile, the Pacers were so hot in the early going — they shot 58 percent from the field in the first quarter — that Ed Sheeran, who was in attendance in advance of Boston Calling, probably could have knocked down a couple of 3s off the bench for Rick Carlisle’s squad.
The Pacers actually led, 27-25, after the opening quarter, and there were moments to come where it felt like the Celtics’ advantage should have been larger – perhaps considerably so — than it was. The Pacers trailed just 57-51 at halftime, and had cut a sizable Celtics lead to 68-66 at the 7:55 mark of the third.
But Tatum and White — both of whom finished with 23 points after combining to shoot 3 of 15 in the first half — heated up, and the Celtics extended their lead to a secure 93-80 advantage at the end of the third, leading to a mostly suspense-less final 12 minutes.
The Celtics did play some beautiful basketball along the way. This group has moments where they’ll drive you crazier in a half of basketball than the ‘86 Celtics did over the course of their entire season. But every now and then they’ll provide a highlight — the aesthetically thrilling kind when one pass leads to a better pass and then an even better pass and you remember why you love this game — that delivers not just a welcome flashback, but hope that this team is about to reach its peak at the perfect time.
I counted three of those delightful plays. Two occurred during that second quarter run: a push and pass by Brown to Al Horford, who swung it to Holiday (who is in full vintage Dennis Johnson mode right now), who whipped it to White for a 3 and a 32-27 lead.
The second came in the same stretch when Holiday hit Brown on a DJ-to-Bird-like cut for a 39-27 lead. And the third was Holiday’s touch pass to a streaking Brown, pushing the Celtics lead to 56-42 with just under two minutes left in the half. Have we mentioned that Playoff Jrue is both real and spectacular?
One more thing that must be noted: Oshae Brissett, finally given a chance by coach Joe Mazzulla to jolt the Celtics with some Aaron Nesmith-style energy and effort, was plus-18 in 12 minutes of playing time. Brissett, whose contributions during the playoff run have been limited to the entertaining video blogs he posts on YouTube, has long deserved a chance to chip in, and it was satisfying to watch him seize it.
Hopefully his coach remembers how he aided the cause, and hopefully the rest of the Celtics remember to maintain their intensity and focus as this series moves to Indiana. Game 2 felt like progress. And if the Celtics do win it all, we’re going to want to open up the files and revisit this as an important victory, in more than one sense.
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