Not how they drew it up, but Celtics get win against Pacers
Boston’s plan was simple: Foul quickly and send the Pacers to the free-throw line.
Trailing by one with seconds ticking away, the Celtics didn’t get the whistle they wanted — they got the steal they needed.
Terry Rozier turned it into a go-ahead dunk with 1.5 seconds remaining that gave the Celtics a 112-111 victory in Indianapolis on Monday night.
After an inbound pass with nine seconds left, Boston was attempting to trap Indiana’s Bojan Bogdanovic along the sideline. With 4.3 seconds left, Bogdanovic, who almost certainly would have been fouled had he simply held on to the ball, threw a high pass intended for Victor Oladipo near midcourt, but Rozier intercepted it and had an open court to his game-winning slam.
“Kyrie (Irving) and Marcus (Smart) had the first trap and Marcus was trying to yell to the referee, ‘I’m fouling, I’m fouling!’ but they didn’t call it,” Rozier said. “Then they threw the ball to Bogdanovic and he made the pass and I was able to get my hand on it. As soon as I stole the ball, I took a look at the clock and saw there were four seconds and I knew I had time.”
Irving had 30 points for Boston, which trailed 107-102 after Oladipo’s basket with 31 seconds left. Oladipo scored 12 of his 38 points in the final two minutes.
Irving made two treys in the final 30 seconds to keep the Celtics in striking distance.
“That was one hell of a game to be a part of,” Irving said. Thunder 95, Nuggets 94: Russell Westbrook scored 16 of his seasonhigh 38 points in the fourth quarter, including the tie-breaking free throw with 2.3 seconds left, to lift host Oklahoma City. Denver’s Gary Harris (17 points) missed short on an off-balance three-point try as time expired. Bulls 117, 76ers 115: Nikola Mirotic and Kris Dunn each scored 22 points, and host Chicago won its sixth consecutive game. Philadelphia rested center Joel Embiid on the first night of back-toback games. Rockets 120, Jazz 99: Eric Gordon scored 17 of his season-high 33 points in the fourth quarter to help power 15-0 and 11-0 runs as host Houston seized its 14th straight win. Timberwolves 108, Blazers 107: Jimmy Butler powered through a recent bout of back spasms to score 37 points, sinking the tying and go-ahead free throws for Minnesota with 2.5 seconds left. Hornets 109, Knicks 91: Frank Kaminsky scored 15 of his season-hightying 24 points in the first half to give host Charlotte a jolt off the bench in snapping a three-game skid. Spurs 109, Clippers 91: LaMarcus Aldridge scored 19 points and San Antonio beat Los Angeles in Kawhi Leonard’s home debut this season. The Clippers were without five players, including leading scorers Blake Griffin and Lou Williams. Suns 97, Mavericks 91: Alex Len had 14 points and 14 rebounds to help visiting Phoenix rally past Dallas for its second consecutive comeback win. The Suns (11-21) improved to 2-0 on a three-game road trip despite missing injured Devin Booker. Harrison Barnes had 26 points for the Mavericks. Hawks 110, Heat 104: Taurean Prince scored 24 points, Dennis Schroder added 23 and NBA-worst Atlanta won at home against Miami, which was down to nine healthy players.