Indiana Pacers (10-34) at Boston Celtics (26-16)Wednesday, January 21, 20267:30 PM ETRegular Season Sport #43 Dwelling Sport #20TV: NBCSB, FDSN, NBA-LPRadio: 98.5 Sports activities Hub, 107.5 The Fan, Sirius XMTD Backyard
The Celtics return residence from their street journey to host the Indiana Pacers. That is the 4th and remaining sport between these 2 groups this season. The Celtics received the primary sport 103-95 on December 22 in Boston they usually received the 2nd sport 140-122 on December 26 in Indiana. They misplaced the third sport 98-96 in Indiana on January 12. The Pacers received the sequence 2-1 final season, with the Celtics profitable one in Boston and dropping 1 in Boston and one in Indiana. The Celtic are 112-88 total all time towards the Pacers. They’re 64-28 in video games performed in Boston.
The Celtics are 2nd within the East, 5.5 video games behind 1st place Detroit. They’re 1.5 video games forward of 2nd place New York. They’re 2 video games forward of 4th place Toronto, 2.5 video games forward of fifth place Philadelphia and three video games forward of sixth place Orlando and seventh place Cleveland. The Celtics are 19-10 towards Japanese Convention opponents. They’re 12-7 at residence and 6-4 of their final 10 video games. They’re coming off a loss of their final sport.
The Pacers are fifteenth within the East, 22.5 video games behind first place Detroit and 17 video games behind 2nd place Boston. They’re 9.5 video games behind tenth place Atlanta, 3.5 video games behind thirteenth place Brooklyn, and 1 sport behind 14th place Washington. The Pacers are 7-22 towards Japanese Convention opponents. They’re 2-18 on the street and 4-6 of their final 10 video games. They’ve misplaced their final 2 video games.
The Celtics are taking part in at residence after a 4 sport street journey. They misplaced the primary sport of that street journey in Indiana. After this sport at residence vs Indiana, they are going to play Brooklyn and Chicago on the street.They’ll then have one other 4 sport residence stand the place they are going to host Portland, Atlanta, Sacramento and Milwaukee. Then, they’re on the street at Dallas and Houston earlier than taking part in Miami, New York, and Chicago at residence, taking them into the All Star Break.
That is the third sport of a 5 sport street journey for the Pacers. They misplaced the primary to at Philadelphia and Detroit and can full the journey at Oklahoma Metropolis and Atlanta. They’ll then host Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and Utah earlier than a 6 sport street journey by Milwaukee, Toronto, New York, Brooklyn. They’ll end the street journey with 2 video games at Washington after the All Star break.
For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum stays out as he continues to rehab from the Achilles tear he suffered in final 12 months’s playoffs. Josh Minott will miss his eighth straight sport with an ankle sprain. Jaylen Brown is listed as possible for this sport with left hamstring tightness. For the Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton stays out as he rehabs from the Achilles tear he suffered within the Japanese Convention Finals. Bennedict Mathurin is out as a consequence of a thumb harm. Obi Toppin is out as a consequence of a foot harm.
Possible Beginning MatchupsPG: Derrick White vs Andrew Nembhard
SG: Payton Pritchard vs Aaron Nesmith
SF: Jaylen Brown vs Johnny Furphy
PF: Sam Hauser vs Pascal Siakam
C: Neemias Queta vs Jay Huff
Celtics ReservesAnfernee SimonsHugo GonzalezXavier TillmanJordan WalshLuka GarzaBaylon ScheiermanChris Boucher
2-Manner PlayersRon Harper, JrMax ShulgaAmari Williams
Accidents/OutJayson Tatum (Achilles) outJosh Minott (ankle) questionableHead CoachJoe Mazzulla
Pacers ReservesTony BradleyKam JonesTJ McConnellMicah PotterBen SheppardJarace WalkerIsaiah Jackson
Two-Manner PlayersQuenton JacksonTaelon PeterEthan Thompson
Accidents/OutTyrese Haliburton (Achilles) outObi Toppin (foot) outBennedict Mathurin (thumb) questionable
Key MatchupsSam Hauser vs Pascal SiakamSiakam is averaging 23.6 factors, 6.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.2 steals per sport whereas taking pictures 48.1% from the sector and 38.0% from past the arc. Over his profession, Siakam has averaged 17.9 factors, 6.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.1 steals per sport towards the Celtics. Within the 3 video games this season, he averaged 19 factors, 6.7 rebounds, and three.3 assists whereas taking pictures 50% from the sector and 36.4% from past the arc. The Celtics must defend him properly on this sport.
Derrick White vs Andrew NembhardNembhard is averaging 17.6 factors, 2.6 rebounds, and seven.1 assists whereas taking pictures 44.9% from the sector and 36.6% from past the arc. Over his profession towards the Celtics, he has averaged 10.7 factors, 2.8 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per sport. Within the first 3 video games towards the Celtics this season, he averaged 17 factors, 4 rebounds, and eight assists whereas taking pictures 45% from the sector and 56.3% from past the arc. Hopefully White will emerge from his mini taking pictures droop of late and have a giant sport.
Honorable MentionPayton Pritchard vs Aaron NesmithNesmith is averaging 13.4points, 5.3 rebounds, and a pair of.0 assists per sport whereas taking pictures 35.2% from the sector and 35% from past the arc. Over his profession towards the Celtics, he averaged 11.9 factors, 4.6 rebounds, and a pair of.3 assists. He missed the primary 2 video games towards the Celtics this season however within the third sport, he completed with 6 factors, 5 rebounds, and a pair of assists whereas taking pictures 22.2% from the sector and 33.3% from past the arc.
Keys to the GameDefense – Protection is the important thing to profitable each single sport. The Pacers haven’t been the scoring juggernaut they have been final season. They’re thirtieth within the league with an offensive ranking of 107.9 whereas the Celtics have an offensive ranking of 121.4 (2nd). The Celtics are 14th within the league with a defensive ranking of 114.0. The Pacers are nineteenth with a defensive ranking of 116.0. Within the first sport between these two groups, the Celtics allowed the Pacers to attain 61 factors within the first half they usually trailed by 18 factors on the half. They held them to 34 factors within the second half and received the sport. The Celtics should play powerful protection from the tip by the ultimate buzzer on this one and never enable the Pacers to get any offensive rhythm.
Rebound – Rebounding can be an necessary key to profitable each sport. The Celtics are tenth within the league, knocking down 44.9 rebounds per sport. The Pacers are twenty third with 42.8 rebounds per sport. It is necessary for the Celtics to rebound the ball to provide themselves additional possessions and to forestall the Pacers from getting the identical together with 2nd likelihood factors. A lot of rebounding is effort and the Celtics have gotten to place out extra effort than the Pacers to seize rebounds for all 4 quarters.
Transfer the Ball Rigorously – The Celtics want to maneuver the ball to get one of the best pictures. The Celtics are a lot better once they transfer the ball and don’t lapse into iso ball. In opposition to the Pistons, the Celtics completed with simply 13 assists. They’re 17-1 once they have 25 or extra assists and they’re simply 9-15 once they have fewer than 25 assists. Jaylen Brown particularly must get again to transferring the ball as a substitute of making an attempt to attain on each possession. Regardless that the Celtics normally take excellent care of the ball, they lose focus at occasions and switch the ball over an excessive amount of. They should make cautious passes and hold the ball transferring.
Don’t Underestimate – It might be simple for the Celtics to underestimate the Pacers and count on a simple win. However that may be a mistake, particularly since they did simply that of their final sport towards the Pacers and misplaced the sport. Any workforce can win on any evening if the opposite workforce lets down their guard. The Celtics have to return out and play arduous and never underestimate the final place Pacers.
X-FactorsHome Sport and Revenge – The Celtics are at residence and may have the gang behind them. The Celtics want to guard residence court docket and use the gang assist for motivation. The Pacers should take care of journey and staying in resorts and taking part in on an unfamiliar court docket and in entrance of hostile followers. The Celtics want to recollect their loss to those Pacers earlier this month and struggle arduous to avenge that loss with a win on this one.Officiating – The officiating can all the time be an x-factor. Some referees name the sport tight and others allow them to play. Some favor the house workforce and others name it evenly. Some refs simply appear to have an agenda that doesn’t match the play on the court docket. And typically the refs are merely unhealthy. The Celtics should play by nevertheless the refs name the sport, whether or not it’s tight or they allow them to play or they make horrible calls. The Celtics can’t enable unhealthy calls or no calls to remove their give attention to the sport.
