Celtics 140, Pacers 122

 

Q: Which quarter in this game did the Celtics underperform? A: The first, when they let the lowly Pacers (6-24) outscore them by 39-28.

But outside of that (there's always that one quarter with this Celtics team), the game was great and they dropped 140 on Indiana. Jaylen Brown scored 30 points, his eighth consecutive game with 30 or more points, second in Celtics' history only to Larry Bird's nine. The whole team was on fire - Pritchard scored 29 points, Hauser 23, White 21,  and Garza 15. The Celtics outrebounded the Pacers, 43-35, and had a respectable three-point percentage of 51.3. 

Hugo González, whose behind-the-scenes heroics carried the team in several recent games, scored no points last night and perversely figured out a way to somehow have a -13 plus/minus record while on the court. 

Games against the Pistons before and after Christmas - the NBA's holiday gift to Boston that just keeps on giving.     

The Celtics improve to 19-11, third overall in the East and second in the Atlantic Division, two back from the Knicks. The team is travelling today for a West Coast road trip starting Sunday in Portland against the Trailblazers (12-19) and our old friends Jrue Holiday and Timelord Robert Williams III. It'll be nice to see our former players - as long as they don't get any funny ideas about actually beating us.