Celtics show the young Pacers gait of champion
CELTICS 86, PACERS 72 BUCKS 116, BLAZERS 94
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers beat Oklahoma City on Friday night, proving that they indeed are one of the league’s up -and- coming teams.
A day later, the Boston Celtics showed the Pacers what the next level looks like. Paul Pierce scored 24 points to help the Celtics beat Indiana 86-72 on Saturday night.
The veteran-laden Celtics did what winning playoff teams do. They controlled the tempo, played stifling defense and made timely shots all night. Indiana matched its lowest point total of the season.
“I thought defensively, we were sensational tonight,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “In a game where shots are not going in and you can still win the game, that means you can trust your defense on nights that it (the offense) doesn’t work.”
Ray Allen added 19 points, Kevin Garnett scored 15 and Rajon Rondo had 12 assists for the Celtics.
Allen came off the bench for just the second time this season. He made 5 of 11 3pointers, including 3 of 5 in the second half. He had missed six games with an ankle injury and has been back for just three games.
“We got him good shots and I told him, it’s still going to take a couple of games,” Rivers said. “He’s still trying to get his legs back. I thought in the second half, you could see he had a breakthrough.”
Boston snapped a two - game skid and remained ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers at the top of the Atlantic Division.
“They’re playing at a very, very high level,” Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. “They have a championship coach and a championship core. They know how to get it done.”
Danny Granger scored 20 points, David West had 16 and Hibbert added nine points and 17 rebounds for Indiana. The Pacers had won four in a row and had scored more than 100 points in five consecutive games. Indiana shot 35 percent from the field, made just 5 of 22 3-pointers and committed 19 turnovers.
“This is just a bump in the road for us, and we must put it behind us and get ready for the next game,” Granger said. “We had several shots that could have dropped, but they didn’t.”
Indiana had the young legs and the depth, but looked tired against the older Celtics. It was the Pacers’ fourth game in five nights, and it finally caught up with them.
“We knew coming into the season the lockout would have an impact on games,” Vogel said. “You can’t overreact or underreact in any situation.”
Boston took a 22-19 lead, then held the Pacers scoreless for the next 7:23 to take a 36-19 lead.
Boston led 43-33 at halftime. The Pacers shot just 3 for 19 in the second quarter, but hung tough because they only allowed Boston to shoot 30 percent. The Pacers just missed their low half of the season, which was 29 points in the second half against Chicago on March 5. Stiemsma had 10 points, five rebounds and five blocks in the first half.
“Here in Indiana, they have played us pretty well,” Rondo said. “They have beaten us pretty badly. We wanted to come out and establish the pace from the jump defensively, and the offense is going to come.”
Boston led by double digits for most of the fourth quarter. Indiana tried to make a late surge, and a 3pointer by Granger cut Boston’s lead to 74-65. Allen hit a 3-pointer at the other end a few seconds later to stop Indiana’s momentum.
MILWAUKEE — Beno Udrih scored a season-high 21 points, Brandon Jennings also added 21, and Milwaukee beat Portland to tighten the race for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
Ersan Ilyasova chipped in 20 points for Milwaukee, which moved within a half-game of idle New York with its fourth straight victory. The Bucks are .500 for the first time since they were 22 on Jan. 2.
Lamarcus Aldridge finished with 21 points for Portland, which lost 116-87 to Milwaukee on March 20 — its worst home loss of the season.