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If you thought the Celtics‘ curb-stomping of the Chicago Bulls would be their final In-Season Tournament game, you underestimated the power of the Brooklyn Nets.
By employing highly advanced tactics such as fouling Andre Drummond with a 30-point lead, the Celtics managed to beat the Bulls thoroughly enough to win any and all point differential tiebreakers, needing only a Nets win by a certain amount to make it to the bracket.
And such an amount happened, setting up tonight’s date with the Indiana Pacers, which is almost certainly the path of least resistance to Las Vegas given the alternatives in New York or Milwaukee. At least on paper.
But we don’t play basketball games on paper, and the Pacers will certainly provide some pretty staunch resistance considering their track record in the In-Season Tournament so far. The Pacers convincingly sautéed the Cavaliers, 76ers, and Hawks in their group play, three teams that most preseason projections had ahead of them.
Given the continued emergence of Tyrese Haliburton as a legitimate man-that-guy-is-good guy, the Pacers punching above their weight class isn’t completely shocking. But even more concerning for the Celtics is how dialed in the Pacers have been for these games. They’re 4-0 in the IST and 6-8 outside of it, which is a stat that probably doesn’t mean anything but might mean something if you want it to.
But the Celtics clearly care about this tournament, too. Whatever code of honor exists in the NBA will need an addendum to accommodate intentionally fouling with a thirty-point lead, as Mazzulla and Co. went full tilt in their final group stage game to give themselves the best chance of advancing. However morally correct that was—or however good Mazzulla, the players, or the Bulls even felt about it—it helped the Celtics advance.
But such chicanery will not be necessary going forward, as these games are single elimination. Just win the basketball game, and get one step closer to the NBA Cup. But what kind of March Madness-but-it’s-the-NBA-and-it’s-early-December game will this be?
Maybe a shootout. The Pacers’ biggest problem is a complete lack of perimeter defenders. They can’t begin to hang with elite wing scorers, and Haliburton can struggle with his diet of eating screens. Myles Turner can clean up some messes at the rim, so the Celtics will almost certainly try to space him out with Al Horford as much as possible.
Even still, the Pacers know exactly who they are. If they’re going to win, they’re going to win a certified wild-west shootout, which has led to some comically high-scoring games such as their 157-152 win over the Hawks. The Hawks are another defensively challenged team, and if the Celtics give up 150 points tonight, I will have follow up questions.
Probable Pacers Starters
Tyrese Haliburton (?)
Buddy Hield
Bruce Brown
Obi Toppin (?)
Myles Turner
Probable Celtics Starters
Jrue Holiday
Derrick White
Jaylen Brown
Jayson Tatum
Al Horford
The Celtics and Pacers have met already this season, though Haliburton missed the game due to injury, resulting in the Celtics dropping a 155-point nuke directly on the Pacers’ heads. Even still, the Pacers looked completely unable to guard the Celtics’ first, second, fourth, ninth, and twenty-sixth offensive options.
Haliburton is nursing a knee injury, which caused him to miss Saturday’s clash with the Miami Heat. Considering how much Haliburton seems to care about the In-Season Tournament, I’d personally be surprised if he misses tonight’s game. However, keep an eye on his status as we get closer to tip-off, as a Haliburton-less Pacers would be a radically different matchup.
The Celtics, on the other hand, will be without Kristaps Porzingis, who is rehabbing from a calf injury and might also somehow be in Latvia. The Celtics won’t have quite as much firepower without him, but the Celtics have proved capable of shredding teams nonetheless by leaning on the unstoppable force of Horford.
The Celtics are currently a clean 5.5-point favorite, which definitely assumes Haliburton will play. But even if he does, the Celtics should have a clear advantage even on Indiana’s weird blue court. Hopefully they can keep the searing baby blue out of their eyes and hit some threes.
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