A glance at the stat sheet would suggest Jaylen Brown, with his game-high 31 points and nine rebounds, was the driving force behind the Celtics’ latest victory.
But credit for the 103-95 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night belonged to Boston’s bench.
Down 20 early in the third quarter, head coach Joe Mazzulla sent in reserves Hugo Gonzalez, Luka Garza, Anfernee Simons, Sam Hauser and Baylor Scheierman, and that unit changed the game. The Celtics outscored the injury-depleted Pacers by 28 points over the final 19:22 to avoid a home upset and improve to 18-11.
Of those Boston backups, Gonzalez made the greatest impact. The rookie played all but 21 seconds of the second half and was a plus-21, finishing with six points, 11 rebounds, two blocks and one steal. Garza grabbed nine rebounds, including five offensive boards, and finished as a plus-13 in his 24 minutes. Both players also played key roles in Saturday’s road win over the Toronto Raptors.
Brown was the closer, scoring 14 of his points in the fourth quarter to help Boston pull away.
The Celtics now will head out on a season-long five-game road trip, beginning with a rematch at 6-23 Indiana on Friday. They will be off on Christmas Day for the first time since 2015, ending a streak of nine consecutive years with a holiday showcase game.
Monday’s win — the 200th of Joe Mazzulla’s head-coaching tenure — kicked off a stretch of seven straight games against sub-.500 teams for Boston that does not end until Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets visit Causeway Street on Jan. 7. Indiana is
The Pacers have been the NBA’s worst shooting team this season — dead last in field-goal percentage and 3-point field-goal percentage — but they came out firing in this one. Indiana hit 10 of its first 14 shots and started 8-of-9 from three to take a 30-18 lead.
Midway through the second quarter, the Pacers had attempted 16 3-pointers, made 11 and led 52-37. Boston had no answer for Pascal Siakam, Indiana’s top-billed star while Tyrese Haliburton recovers from Achilles surgery, and struggled to contain Ethan Thompson, a 26-year-old two-way player with nine games of NBA experience.
Thompson scored 11 points in the first half, one shy of his career high, while Siakam poured in 23 on 8-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-5 from deep. Siakam also hit two midrange jumpers over Gonzalez, who spent much of the second quarter tracking the 6-foot-8 veteran.
At the other end, Boston’s scorers were scuffling. Brown was the only Celtics player to reach double figures before halftime, and he did so on 4-of-12 shooting. As a team, the Celtics shot 39.1% and 27.8% from deep in the first half and trailed 61-43 at the break.
After Indiana’s lead hit 20 points early in the third quarter, Mazzulla made a statement substitution. He pulled Brown, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard and Neemias Queta and replaced them with Simons, Scheierman, Hauser and Garza. The only Celtic not subbed out was Gonzalez, who started the second half over Josh Minott (Boston’s initial replacement for the ailing Jordan Walsh, who missed the game with an illness).
That near-full line change had the desired effect. Boston’s bench unit revitalized the stagnant C’s, staging a 19-5 run that cut the Pacers’ cushion to six.
Gonzalez blocked a shot, stole a pass and drew two fouls, including one on an inbounds pass. Garza, who hadn’t seen meaningful minutes in weeks before returning to the rotation Saturday night in Toronto, won extra possessions with more strong work on the offensive glass. Scheierman hit a 3-pointer and drew a charge.
Combined, that group held Siakam to three third-quarter points and the Pacers to one 3-pointer in the period on 12 attempts. Brown scored four quick points after reentering late in the quarter, and Boston went into the fourth within striking distance, trailing 82-74. A twisting Brown layup through traffic cut it to 82-80 with 8:58 remaining.
After White (19 points) drilled a three — his first since the first quarter — Brown swatted a Siakam drive and finished at the rim to put the Celtics ahead 85-84. White added a rare dunk on the next Boston possession.
Gonzalez and Garza both were on the floor for the entire Celtics rally. The latter received a standing ovation when Mazzulla subbed him out for Queta after a shift that lasted more than 16 minutes of game time.
An and-one jumper by Andrew Nembhard tied that game at 91-91. But Queta responded with two free throws — off an offensive rebound created by a Gonzalez deflection — and Brown buried a corner three to put Boston up seven.
That proved to be the dagger. The Celtics pulled away in the final minutes to secure their third straight win.
Only then did Gonzalez check out, heading to the bench with 32.2 seconds to play. The 19-year-old also played the final 17-plus minutes of wins over Miami and Toronto last Friday and Saturday. Over the last three games, the Celtics have outscored opponents by 80 points during his minutes.
