Celtics

Jayson Tatum scored 31 points, including the final four in the last minute of overtime, and the Boston Celtics outlasted the Indiana Pacers 142-138 Thursday ...

Jayson Tatum put up a 30-point double-double, but it wasn't an efficient effort from him.

[Massachusetts online sports betting](https://www.masslive.com/betting/massachusetts/)is coming soon. [the Celtics beat the Pacers 142-138 in overtime in Indiana](https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2023/02/four-takeaways-as-celtics-beat-pacers-142-138-in-dramatic-overtime-thriller.html). Next up, they take on a division rival in the 76ers who are looking to make some moves toward the top of the East. That’s when Tatum swooped in for the Celtics’ 20th offensive rebound of the night for the put-back score. [Pre-registration for mobile betting](https://actionrush.com/go/fanduel-mass-pre-launch-mass-live/)in Massachusetts is live on FanDuel. Of course, the Celtics will take the victory and Tatum did have the game-sealing bucket late in overtime.

Malcolm Brogdon put on a show in his return to Indiana to help the Celtics earn a 142-138 overtime victory over the Pacers. We share our takeaways.

The Pacers made the mistake of hunting Hauser and he responded by tallying three blocks. The 26-year-old missed a couple of big free throws and committed five fouls in the narrow victory. The discrepancy on the glass was summed up perfectly by Tatum's dagger at the end of overtime. Sam Hauser found his stride heading into the break and stayed hot on Thursday night. Hauser's efficient performance is another reminder of the Celtics' depth, which should be a major advantage down the stretch. [Jayson Tatum](https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/jayson-tatum) [Jaylen Brown](https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/jaylen-brown), [Al Horford](https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/al-horford), [Marcus Smart](https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/marcus-smart), and [Robert Williams](https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/robert-williams-iii?b) took the floor together all season. It finished with 20 offensive rebounds altogether, marking its second-highest total of the season. Boston's dominance on the offensive boards was the difference. Brogdon currently leads the league in 3-point percentage at 46.5. Brogdon picked up where he left off before the break. Indiana caught fire from 3-point range to pull ahead in the third quarter after trailing by as many as 16 points. Tyrese Haliburton chipped in 22 points and 14 assists.

Indiana gave them all they could handle, but the Celtics walked away with a hard-fought overtime victory.

Haliburton put Tatum on the line for a pair of free throws, and after he converted both, the Pacers couldn’t respond with a bucket of their own. The Celtics and Pacers continued to scrap for the next two minutes of regulation, before a dunk from Brown gave Boston a 138-136 advantage. The result was four free throw attempts for the Celtics, all of which were makes, restoring the Celtics to a one-point advantage. Haliburton hit a pair of his own freebies on the other end, and the game was once again knotted up, 125 apiece, with a minute remaining. The Pacers responded with a three of their own from Haliburton, but fouled Brown behind the arc on the ensuing possession to put him on the line for three free throws. Indiana coach Rick Carlisle challenged the play, only for the call to be upheld, but the Celtics took just one point away from the sequence as Brown missed two of the freebies.

The Celtics have ruled out JD Davison, Danilo Gallinari and Mfiondu Kabengele. Meanwhile, the Pacers will be without Kendall Brown and Trevelin Queen.

Celtics star Jayson Tatum wasn't well aware that Thursday night's performance against the Pacers was far from his best as he explained.

With victories in six of their last seven games, the Celtics will next get set to square off against the rival Philadelphia 76ers on the road. Perhaps Friday’s day off is all the 24-year-old All-Star will need in order to get back into his usual dominant form on the court. And it resulted in an off-brand night for the league MVP contender against a subpar Pacers team who can’t keep a .500 record in place this season.

Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum blames his off night against the Pacers to his shenanigans during the All-Star break.

The Celtics superstar was in a joking mood after the game as he decided to troll himself following an uncharacteristic off night from the field: Everybody’s in the league is kind of on the same boat; first game back. [Tatum set a new scoring record](https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-jayson-tatum-wins-all-star-game-mvp-with-record-breaking-performance) in the start-studded spectacle after dropping 55 points to lead Team Giannis to a victory against Team LeBron.

All-Star break is officially over, meaning the NBA regular season is reaching the home-stretch. This is a great time to see how the Celtics roster has been ...

As we saw in the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, the future of the league is just around the corner, with stalwarts of the event like LeBron James and Giannis ...

NBA conference leaders Boston and Denver were pushed to the limit on Thursday, the Celtics escaping in a 142-138 overtime triumph over Indiana and the ...

Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum took a nasty fall on his injured left wrist Thursday against the Indiana Pacers.

But got it looked at and it’s sore, but I’ll be all right.” You guys probably saw, I jumped up so quick and I was scared. Tatum went to go up strong for a transition layup when old friend Aaron Nesmith slid over and tried to take a charge.

The Celtics' star power and depth both shined in a chaotic win. Celtics Pacers Celtics guard Jaylen Brown passes the ball around Pacers center Myles Turner. AP ...

Smart picked up a technical after he drove through Tyrese Haliburton for a layup and flexed at the skinnier guard just two possessions after Haliburton took exception to an aggressive post-up by Smart (Smart and Haliburton were fine after the game). “I thought that was kind of one of the big moments of the game. Malcolm Brogdon finished with 24 points on 9-for-12 shooting with five rebounds and seven assists in a return to Indiana, where he spent three seasons. This year, that group has been outscored by 5.6 points per 100 possessions in its very limited sample size, and it gave up a run to the Pacers at the start of the third quarter that closed the gap. They outscored the Pacers 22-13 on second-chance points — part of a 60-44 advantage on points in the paint. The Celtics mashed the Pacers on the offensive glass, pulling down 20 offensive rebounds to Indiana’s 10. The two stars both played more than 42 minutes on Thursday, and while the overtime period played a factor, they both were over 37 minutes before the extra five minutes began. Tatum flirted with a triple-double, tallying 31 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, and he shot 4-for-5 from the free-throw line in overtime. But it will definitely take some getting used to and some adjustments and being able to adapt to it.” Brown, meanwhile, put together a solid game but missed two of three free throws in a key spot late in regulation, and he threw away a pass on a 2-on-1 fast break in the final minute that could have given the Celtics a crucial lead in the closing seconds. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown both struggled a bit in their return to the floor. Tatum made his first 3-pointer but missed his next seven shots and finished the first half 1-for-8.

At long last, the Celtics were entirely healthy, yielding some brilliant and blustering results in an overtime win in Indianapolis.

[Al Horford](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/al-horford-1bdxkLwov50QIyiQ/) instead and threw it over his head. Thursday was a reminder that while there’s a chance he could get another one of these with a Celtics logo on it come June, this team has a lot of work to do even when fully healthy. It looked like the kind of ring that would have a Larry O’Brien trophy on it, but instead there was Tatum’s JT logo with the numbers 0 and 98. Brogdon is often the one in that situation, but he was too good in his homecoming game not to close this one out. [Grant Williams](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/grant-williams-ZKR4PurwehHcDFw2/), who so often is an instrumental component to this team, was left out in the cold. If there’s been one constant that has pushed Tatum from the outskirts of the MVP conversation to its epicenter, it’s his ability to keep making winning plays on nights when he straight-up doesn’t have it. [Celtics](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/celtics/) have been in first place for most of the season despite their injuries, just waiting for their chance to get the band back together and run away with a chip. He essentially had the game winner by air-balling a shot, only to crash the glass and tip home Smart’s errant second-chance opportunity. But the Celtics wouldn’t have gotten there without Tatum — who just coasted to the easiest 50-point game in basketball history with that sham of an All-Star game Sunday — getting down and dirty. Tatum finished 9-for-25 from the field and looked like he forgot his shot over the break. But that’s not how things go in the [NBA](https://theathletic.com/nba/). Back from an All-Star MVP and well-earned vacation, he was finally surrounded by an entirely healthy team for the second time all season.

Boston ultimately escaped with a 142-138 overtime win with a putback layup by All-Star Game MVP Jayson Tatum providing the final margin, but in the Pacers they ...

You try to manipulate the possession so much by bringing up a guy to get a switch and before you know it you're up against the clock and there's a crowd. "The way we fought against, arguably the best team in the NBA is a positive. There's value in the Pacers' valiant loss on Thursday night because it sets a tone for the remaining 21 games of the season. In three of the final four possessions in regulation, Haliburton got the ball and didnt throw a single pass, trying to cross up his defender until he got space to either drive or shoot. They turned the ball over 14 times, and they also missed out on opportunities for shots that would have given them the lead at the end of games. That was Mathurin's sixth foul and it took him out of the game, and the Celtics turned it into four free throws. We weren't perfect, rebounding continues to be a challenge, but the level of battle and the level of fight was tremendous. Brown seemed to kick out his left foot, but he came down on Hield's left foot and fell to the ground. And the Pacers fell to 26-35, which keeps them at 12th place in the East and drags them down to a full 3 1/2 games back of the Wizards and Raptors for 10th, which is the last position in the play-in round. Tatum scored 31 points but he made just 2 of his first 12 shots and finished 9 of 25 from the field and 3 of 12 from beyond the arc. They trailed by 16 points with about 3:18 to go in the second quarter and erased that deficit entirely by the midpoint of the third quarter thanks to a bombardment of 3s, several of which came from their 6-11 center. The Celtics still cracked 30 points in three of the four quarters, shooting 51.5% from the floor and 46.2% from beyond the 3-point arc, but they made Boston work for those shots, especially Tatum and Brown.

Jaylen Brown debuted his mask when he played in the All-Star game last week.

That’ll be a point of emphasis for the C’s going forward as they look to smooth over any chemistry wrinkles for the rest of the regular season. [Massachusetts online sports betting](https://www.masslive.com/betting/massachusetts/)is coming soon. Regardless, it’s a positive sign for the Celtics that Brown is back on the court. Brown said he will have to wear the mask for about four-to-six weeks, though a week has already elapsed over the All-Star break. It gets a little uncomfortable at times, and sometimes you got to get your head around, make sure you see everything, somebody’s coming from behind or somebody’s in your side view. [Pre-registration for mobile betting](https://actionrush.com/go/fanduel-mass-pre-launch-mass-live/)in Massachusetts is live on FanDuel. It’s been a career season for Brown as he’s averaging a career-high 26.6 points per game, earning his second All-Star nod. [While fans got a first glimpse at Jaylen Brown’s new mask at the All-Star game](https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2023/02/celtics-jaylen-brown-debuts-mask-in-nba-all-star-game-heres-a-first-look.html), Thursday was a different test for the 26-year-old. It’s definitely going to take some getting used to and adjusting, being able to adapt to it. “It’s going to take some getting used to,” Brown said postgame. Fortunately for the C’s, there weren’t any follow-up concerns as Brown finished with 43 minutes played Thursday. So there was some worry when Brown reached up to his left face area.

Malcolm Brogdon put on a show in his return to Indiana to help the Celtics earn a 142-138 overtime victory over the Pacers. We share our takeaways.

The Pacers made the mistake of hunting Hauser and he responded by tallying three blocks. The 26-year-old missed a couple of big free throws and committed five fouls in the narrow victory. [Jayson Tatum](https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/jayson-tatum?chrcontext=WBTS), [Jaylen Brown](https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/jaylen-brown?chrcontext=WBTS), [Al Horford](https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/al-horford?chrcontext=WBTS), [Marcus Smart](https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/marcus-smart?chrcontext=WBTS), and [Robert Williams](https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/robert-williams-iii?b&chrcontext=WBTS) took the floor together all season. Hauser's efficient performance is another reminder of the Celtics' depth, which should be a major advantage down the stretch. Sam Hauser found his stride heading into the break and stayed hot on Thursday night. The discrepancy on the glass was summed up perfectly by Tatum's dagger at the end of overtime. Boston's dominance on the offensive boards was the difference. The C's finished with 20 offensive rebounds altogether, marking their second-highest total of the season. Brogdon currently leads the league in 3-point percentage at 46.5. Brogdon picked up where he left off before the break. Indiana caught fire from 3-point range to pull ahead in the third quarter after trailing by as many as 16 points. Tyrese Haliburton chipped in 22 points and 14 assists.

Al Horford did the work here, before Jaylen Brown flipped the extra pass for Derrick White to step into a three: This is good patience by Grant Williams to ...

A win would make it a four-game lead, but would also give the Celtics the tiebreaker. That allows Malcolm Brogdon to cook rookie Bennedict Mathurin off the bounce: White is really good at using his spin move to get to the rim. He knows where the defenders are on this play, and that no help is coming: Malcolm Brogdon and Derrick White combined for 41 points on 15-of-24 shooting, while Sam Hauser made a case that the Celtics don’t really need to add another wing. But he knew Brogdon had a better look, so he zipped the extra pass to the corner: On the subject of depth: Boston got some huge performances off the bench. That’s unlikely to happen, as everyone seems to be pulling in the same direction towards a Finals run. Now, Williams is right up there with Al Horford for the guy Celtics shooters use the most for screen assists. The veteran big man did a good job making sure everyone got a chance to eat. Jaylen Brown admitted that wearing the mask impacts his peripheral vision and that it gets hot. With Boston trying to hold off the

The Celtics own the best record in basketball, but Thursday night's game proved there are still questions about which unit should be on the floor to close ...

Celtics star Jaylen Brown looked no worse for wear in his first real game with his new facemask, but admitted after Thursday's game that he'll need some ...

Brown missed four games leading into the All-Star break, so some rust was to be expected Thursday, especially with his new hardware. But just be able to make those adjustments -- you have to keep your head up and see the floor." "It’s going to take some getting used to," Brown said after the game, as seen in the video player above.

The Celtics came back from the All-Star break with a bang, delivering one of the most exciting games of the year.

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Masked Jaylen Brown made his "official" debut Thursday night in Indiana, with Boston Celtics star rocking a black face mask in a regular-season game for the ...

In their first game back since the All-Star break, the Celtics barely managed to pull out a victory.

And everybody in the league is kind of in the same boat - first game back, been off for a week. You could see everybody was excited and hyped, and I think that kind of was one of the big moments of the game, and it was very important to me. And now that the cobwebs have been shaken off after a week-long break, they can focus all of their attention on the final stretch of the regular season. So, regardless of who you’re playing, the first game is usually always tough, and a good one to win.” I thought that we answered the challenge and found a way to win the game. And it’s gonna be a lot more of that we’re going to need throughout the season.” [found himself fighting for the ball with Pacers rookie Bennedict Mathurin](https://twitter.com/ActionNetworkHQ/status/1628941459951874049). In their first game back from the All-Star break, they took on the [Indiana Pacers](https://www.indycornrows.com/) - a team that has given them plenty of trouble over the last calendar year. I had a good stat line, but really not a really good game. The game ended up going to overtime and while You come up with that ball, the team feeds off that energy. Mathurin saying he wasn’t letting go, and I for sure wasn’t letting the ball go.

Jayson Tatum scores Boston's final four points in OT and finishes with as Boston improves its NBA-best record to 43-17.

The Pacers rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to outscore the Celtics 39-32 in the third quarter. NOTES: The Celtics improved their league-best road record to 19-10. Bennedict Mathurin added 19 points off the bench.