INDIANAPOLIS — Well playas, a solid No.4 spot in the Eastern Conference standings and home court advantage was on the line on Friday as the Boston Celtics arrived in Indianapolis. They apparently pulled up in the Big Body Chevy Caprice Classic and the Pacers pulled up in a Ford Festiva on fumes sitting on some may-pops. For you all that aren’t familiar with hood terminology those are bald tires that may pop at any time.
When the smoke cleared the Celtics had literally sprinted through the Pacers 117-97 to secure the 4th seed and home court advantage. Gordon Hayward walked in with the full clown suit on complete with the water spitting flower as he went to work on these boyz.
Ole boy didn’t miss a single shot all night. He finished 9-9 from the field and 3-3 from the foul line to drop off 21 points. He’s the first Celtic to go 100 percent from the field and score at least 20 points since the great Kevin McHale did it back in 1986.
The Pacers and Celtics were tied for the fourth spot in the East coming into the game. However, Boston had a 2-1 edge in the head to head match up. An Indiana win would have changed the whole dynamic of the playoff picture for these teams. The head to head would have been tied and Indiana would have had the better record putting them ahead. However, that didn’t happen and it looks like the Pacers will have to travel out to Boston to start this series next weekend.
Unfortunately, Indiana’s defense is falling apart right now. There’s no way they’ll keep Boston in check during a seven-game series playing the way they’re playing right now regardless of who’s got home court advantage.
Jason Tatum led all scorers with 22 points as Kyrie dropped off a solid 17 points and 6 assists. Myles Turner led the Pacers with 15 points and 7 rebounds. Domantas Sabonis and Tyreke Evans each had 12 points as both Doug McDermott and Darren Collison had 11 apiece. Up next for Indiana is Brooklyn on Sunday at the crib.
