Published: 12/29/2020 9:58:01 PM
Modified: 12/29/2020 9:57:54 PM
INDIANAPOLIS — Jayson Tatum scored 27 points and the Boston Celtics rallied from 17 points down in the third quarter and beat the Indiana Pacers 116-111 on Tuesday night.
Jaylen Brown scored 20 for the Celtics, who had a 33-18 scoring edge in the final quarter.
The Pacers led 88-71 in the third quarter and were still ahead by 11 entering the fourth, when Tatum scored 14 points and the Celtics surged to a 109-100 lead.
The game was similar to when the teams met on Sunday. In that game, the Pacers had a huge third quarter before the Celtics rallied to take the lead. However, the Pacers won 108-107 on Domantas Sabonis’ layup with 8.4 seconds remaining.
Victor Oladipo, who sat out the previous game after scoring 22 points in each of his other starts, had 20 of his 24 through three quarters for the Pacers. T.J. Warren scored 15 of his 17 points in the third quarter.
The Celtics had four scorers with nine or more points for a 58-57 halftime lead.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Reserve guard Jeff Teague sank a 3-pointer in the second quarter to snap a streak of 15 consecutive missed shots dating back to the season opener. The Indianapolis native played one season for his hometown Pacers in 2016-17.
Pacers: The last time this team started 4-0 was in 2013-14, when Indiana opened 9-0. ... Sabonis was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for Week 1 after he averaged 24.3 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists in three victories.
THEY SAID IT
“He won’t be back any time soon, certainly, you know we’re hopeful to get him back as soon as possible, but we want to make sure when we do it’s for good,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said of the timetable for Kemba Walker to make his season debut as he recovers from a knee injury that required a stem cell injection in October.
UP NEXT
Celtics: After two games in three days in Indianapolis, Boston returns home to host Memphis on Wednesday.
Pacers: Host Cleveland on Thursday.