BOSTON Celtics cruised to a dominant 126-110 victory over Indiana Pacers in Game 2 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday night (Friday in Manila) at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Jaylen Brown spearheaded the offense with 40 points, including four three-point conversions, to go with five rebounds, two assists, and a steal as the Celtics took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Jayson Tatum and Derrick White added 23 markers apiece, Jrue Holiday had a double-double of 15 points and 10 assists, and Payton Pritchard contributed 12 points for Boston.
The Pacers cruised to an early five-point lead in the opening quarter, but the Celtics got conversions from White and Pritchard as they cut the deficit to 27-29.
Brown took over the scoring for the Celtics in the second quarter with a 15-0 run behind Brown for a 45-29 lead, but the Pacers answered with a run to cut the deficit to 51-57 at the half.
Indiana were still hanging around at 68-72 midway through the third period, but Boston managed to pull away with conversions from Tatum and Brown for a 93-80 lead.
The Celtics widened the lead further in the fourth period as connections from Tatum, White, and Brown gave them a 126-106 lead with under two minutes left.
“He has a great outlook on life. He knows what’s important and what’s not,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, referring to Brown, who was snubbed from individual award despite a solid performance this season.
Paskal Siakam top-scored for the Pacers with 28 points, five rebounds, and two assists, while Andrew Nembhard and Obi Toppin added 16 and 11 points, respectively.
Tyrese Haliburton finished with 10 points, eight assists, four rebounds, and a steal before exiting late in the second half due to a left hamstring soreness./PN
BOX SCORE:
BOSTON 126 — Brown 40, Tatum 23, White 23, Holiday 15, Pritchard 12, Horford 6, Mykhailiuk 3, Hauser 2, Brissett 2, Kornet 0, Tillman 0.
INDIANA 110 — Siakam 28, Nembhard 16, Toppin 11, Haliburton 10, Nesmith 9, McConnell 9, Turner 8, Sheppard 7, Smith 4, Walker 3, Jackson 3, McDermott 2, Brown 0.
Quarterscores: 27-29, 57-51, 93-80, 126-110.
