The Indiana Pacers continue to grow and look more and more like a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference, and they attempted to make that statement on Saturday night. Victor Oladipo helped make that happen by connecting on the go-ahead three-pointer with 3.4 seconds to play for a 102-101 win over the Boston Celtics. The win improves Indiana to 7-3, as Oladipo finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, despite reportedly battling bronchitis.
The Celtics led by four with over 30 seconds to play, and that's when Oladipo took over, which started by two free throws being made after a Jaylen Brown foul. His game-winning shot came off of a rebound on a Kyrie Irving miss, as he took it up the floor and made the clutch shot over Al Horford. The Celtics called timeout after that, but Oladipo then got it done defensively by intercepting the inbounds pass from Gordon Hayward.
The foul trouble for Boston was what kept Indiana in the game, as they made 19-of-25 from the free throw line, while Boston only went just six-for-nine from the charity strike. That helped the Pacers overcome getting outshot by a short margin of 43 percent-41 percent.
Marcus Morris led the Celtics with 23 points and six rebounds, while Irving had 18 points and six rebounds after going off each of the past two wins at home for Boston. Those were against the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks, and helped him overcome a three-point performance in Detroit last Saturday. Hayward was the lone starter not to reach double figures in scoring, finishing with four points and seven rebounds in the loss.
For the Pacers, Tyreke Evans chipped in 17 points, Bojan Bogdanovic had 16, and Domantas Sabonis recorded 12 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, as the Pacers improved to 3-1 at home. They will host the struggling Houston Rockets, who got James Harden back in a win over the Chicago Bulls, on Monday night. The Celtics will head out west for a tough road trip that starts in Denver against the Nuggets that same night.
The Celtics led by four with over 30 seconds to play, and that's when Oladipo took over, which started by two free throws being made after a Jaylen Brown foul. His game-winning shot came off of a rebound on a Kyrie Irving miss, as he took it up the floor and made the clutch shot over Al Horford. The Celtics called timeout after that, but Oladipo then got it done defensively by intercepting the inbounds pass from Gordon Hayward.
The foul trouble for Boston was what kept Indiana in the game, as they made 19-of-25 from the free throw line, while Boston only went just six-for-nine from the charity strike. That helped the Pacers overcome getting outshot by a short margin of 43 percent-41 percent.
Marcus Morris led the Celtics with 23 points and six rebounds, while Irving had 18 points and six rebounds after going off each of the past two wins at home for Boston. Those were against the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks, and helped him overcome a three-point performance in Detroit last Saturday. Hayward was the lone starter not to reach double figures in scoring, finishing with four points and seven rebounds in the loss.
For the Pacers, Tyreke Evans chipped in 17 points, Bojan Bogdanovic had 16, and Domantas Sabonis recorded 12 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, as the Pacers improved to 3-1 at home. They will host the struggling Houston Rockets, who got James Harden back in a win over the Chicago Bulls, on Monday night. The Celtics will head out west for a tough road trip that starts in Denver against the Nuggets that same night.
