Pacers fall to Celtics
By TYLER SMITH (@TylerSmith_ISL)
ISL Editor
(Photo by Pacers Sports and Entertainment)
INDIANAPOLIS — When you’re struggling to win games on the road, home losses hurt even more. The Pacers were unable to maintain their home dominance on Thursday night, losing to the Boston Celtics 109-102.
The story of this game was the second quarter. After leading 31-22 after the first, the Pacers only scored nine points in the second on 3-of-21 shooting.
“We won every quarter except the second,” Coach Nate McMillan said. “It wasn’t enough.”
Jeff Teague scored a season high 31 points. C.J. Miles scored all 19 of his points in the fourth quarter. And Thad Young posted his fourth double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. But as McMillan said, it still wasn’t enough. It was a bad night for Paul George to shoot 5-of-16.
“We’ve got to be stronger as a team,” George said. “I’ll take the blame for that. There’s no excuse. We still should be performing a lot better right now.”
Jeff Teague added: “We know we’re a better team than what we’ve shown.”
Taking care of the ball is one of Nate McMillan’s primary goals for his team. Tonight, the Pacers had 19 turnovers.
“It’s going to be difficult to beat anybody with 19 turnovers and only 20 assists,” McMillan said. “You give them (Boston) 19 extra bullets, it’s going to be a tough night.”
With only one game remaining against the Celtics this season, the Pacers have already lost the season-series and tie-breaker with Boston. With a bunched up Eastern Conference, those tie-breakers could come into play with some teams later this season.
The Celtics attempted 39 3-pointers in this game. The Pacers give up the 3rd most 3-point attempts of any team in the NBA.
Indiana will now have two days of practice, and will return to action in Chicago on Monday night. They hope to get Rodney Stuckey back for that game.
