A poor third quarter did the Indiana Pacers in during Game 1 of their first-round playoff series with the Boston Celtics. In Game 2, Boston seized on a fourth-quarter collapse by Indiana.
Kyrie Irving on Wednesday night scored 37 points as Boston rallied late in the fourth quarter to beat Indiana 99-91 and take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Coming out of a time-out and with a chance for Indiana to tie, the Pacers’ Wesley Matthews threw an inbounds pass into the bench on the other side of the court with 12.1 seconds left.
On the ensuing play, the Celtics’ Al Horford passed to Jayson Tatum, who was fouled on a two-handed dunk. He completed the three-point play to make it 97-91 with 8.8 seconds left.
The Pacers turned it over again and the Celtics were able to close out the game at the free-throw line.
Tatum scored 26 points, including his thunderous dunk down the stretch to help punctuate a 10-0 run by Boston over the final five minutes.
Irving said that being able to have this kind of performance at TD Garden after sitting out the playoffs last season was not lost on him.
After scoring only eight points in the third quarter of Game 1, the Pacers scored only 12 points in the fourth of Game 2.
Bojan Bogdanovic led the Pacers with 23 points and Young added 15 points, while Myles Turner finished with six blocks.
Darren Collison scored seven points during a 10-0 run that gave the Pacers a 70-58 lead in the third quarter as turnovers began to pile up for the Celtics.
Indiana led 79-68 entering the fourth. Horford opened the final period scoring on a hook shot in the lane and Tyreke Evans responded with a three-pointer on Indiana’s first possession.
However, then Boston got hot, using a 16-0 run, including eight straight by Irving, to take an 86-82 lead with 5 minutes, 4 seconds to play.
Indiana missed 10 straight shots during the run, finally breaking a nearly eight-minute scoring drought with a three-pointer by Matthews in front of the Celtics’ bench.
Bogdanovic hit a three-pointer from virtually the same spot as Matthews to put the Pacers back in front.
Gordon Hayward responded with a jumper, before Bogdanovic hit another trey over Horford that made it 91-89 Pacers with 2 minutes, 16 seconds remaining.
Following an Indiana miss, Tatum connected on a three-pointer from the corner. After Horford blocked Bogdanovic at the rim, Tatum found a cutting Hayward for a layup and the Pacers were undone by their late turnovers.
In other games on Wednesday, the Milwaukee Bucks crushed the Detroit Pistons 120-99 and the Houston Rockets overpowered the Utah Jazz 118-98.
Additional reporting by staff writer
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated worldwide. Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990. Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery. The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just