言论
Celtics hold off Pacers, gain edge in race for home court
On a night when players and fans alike came wired for a playoff game, the Celtics survived one of their biggest nights of the late season.
Kyrie Irving’s drive with five-tenths of a second left clinched last night’s 114-112 win over the Pacers. The win ties the Celtics with Indiana for the fourth seed, with one game left between the two on April 5. The Celtics hold the tiebreaker in the series, based on conference record.
Irving capped an electric night with his 30-point, 11-for-22, three-trey performance, bolstered by 19 points from Al Horford and 16 off the bench from Jaylen Brown, who was 7-for-10. Aron Baynes started, set a defensive tone early, and finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
The Celtics withstood a 27-point performance by Pacers forward Bojan Bogdanovic.
Thaddeus Young, who had tied the game with a basket off a wild loose ball sequence with 1:20 left, missed a layup attempt his next time down the floor with 41.3 seconds left and the game tied at 112-112.
The Celtics came out of their timeout and unraveled when Irving had the ball stripped away at the tip of the circle. The Pacers regrouped and called timeout with 27.5 seconds left, including 16 on the shot clock.
Irving pressured Darren Collison into a 15-foot miss, and Jaylen Brown corralled the rebound and called a timeout with 10.2 seconds left.
Irving took a handoff from Horford, dribbled right and then in to the basket before laying his shot smoothly off the glass for a 114-112 lead with five-tenths of a second left.
Doug McDermott couldn’t get off Indiana’s last shot before the buzzer sounded.
The Celtics led by as many as 11 points early in the third thanks to an Irving-fueled 12-2 run, but slowly lost hold, until the Pacers, thanks to a Myles Turner layup, took a 91-89 lead by the end of the quarter.
The Celtics tied it on two Hayward free throws with 10:17 left in the game, lost the lead on a Sabonis put-back and took it back again when Horford’s three-point play kicked off a 5-0 run for a 96-93 lead.
A furious pace established, Indiana took a brief 99-98 lead on a T.J. Leaf tip-in that appeared to go in off the hand of Hayward.
But the Celtics triggered a Pacers timeout when, with 6:31 left, Baynes put back a Terry Rozier miss for a 100-99 Celtics lead. Irving stole the ball coming out of the timeout, fought through a trap down the other end and scored off a finger roll. Indiana’s next timeout came quickly, with 5:26 left, when Brown extended the run to 7-0 and the lead to 105-99 when he drained a 3-pointer from the left corner.
The Celtics found themselves back at square one soon enough. The Pacers answered with a 6-0 run that included Bogdanovic’s cut for a 105-105 tie. Irving, fouled out of the ensuing timeout, hit two free throws for the 107-105 lead with 3:47 left.
Young posted the Celtics guard for the tie. Smart and Darren Collison traded 3-pointers, Irving drove for a brief 112-110 lead, and Young tied the score with a layup off a wild loose ball sequence with 1:20 left.
言论
Celtics hold off Pacers, gain edge in race for home court
On a night when players and fans alike came wired for a playoff game, the Celtics survived one of their biggest nights of the late season.
Kyrie Irving’s drive with five-tenths of a second left clinched last night’s 114-112 win over the Pacers. The win ties the Celtics with Indiana for the fourth seed, with one game left between the two on April 5. The Celtics hold the tiebreaker in the series, based on conference record.
Irving capped an electric night with his 30-point, 11-for-22, three-trey performance, bolstered by 19 points from Al Horford and 16 off the bench from Jaylen Brown, who was 7-for-10. Aron Baynes started, set a defensive tone early, and finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
The Celtics withstood a 27-point performance by Pacers forward Bojan Bogdanovic.
Thaddeus Young, who had tied the game with a basket off a wild loose ball sequence with 1:20 left, missed a layup attempt his next time down the floor with 41.3 seconds left and the game tied at 112-112.
The Celtics came out of their timeout and unraveled when Irving had the ball stripped away at the tip of the circle. The Pacers regrouped and called timeout with 27.5 seconds left, including 16 on the shot clock.
Irving pressured Darren Collison into a 15-foot miss, and Jaylen Brown corralled the rebound and called a timeout with 10.2 seconds left.
Irving took a handoff from Horford, dribbled right and then in to the basket before laying his shot smoothly off the glass for a 114-112 lead with five-tenths of a second left.
Doug McDermott couldn’t get off Indiana’s last shot before the buzzer sounded.
The Celtics led by as many as 11 points early in the third thanks to an Irving-fueled 12-2 run, but slowly lost hold, until the Pacers, thanks to a Myles Turner layup, took a 91-89 lead by the end of the quarter.
The Celtics tied it on two Hayward free throws with 10:17 left in the game, lost the lead on a Sabonis put-back and took it back again when Horford’s three-point play kicked off a 5-0 run for a 96-93 lead.
A furious pace established, Indiana took a brief 99-98 lead on a T.J. Leaf tip-in that appeared to go in off the hand of Hayward.
But the Celtics triggered a Pacers timeout when, with 6:31 left, Baynes put back a Terry Rozier miss for a 100-99 Celtics lead. Irving stole the ball coming out of the timeout, fought through a trap down the other end and scored off a finger roll. Indiana’s next timeout came quickly, with 5:26 left, when Brown extended the run to 7-0 and the lead to 105-99 when he drained a 3-pointer from the left corner.
The Celtics found themselves back at square one soon enough. The Pacers answered with a 6-0 run that included Bogdanovic’s cut for a 105-105 tie. Irving, fouled out of the ensuing timeout, hit two free throws for the 107-105 lead with 3:47 left.
Young posted the Celtics guard for the tie. Smart and Darren Collison traded 3-pointers, Irving drove for a brief 112-110 lead, and Young tied the score with a layup off a wild loose ball sequence with 1:20 left.