The Boston Celtics played a perfect home court defense to defeat the Indiana Pacers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, their first time ever to hold a 2-0 lead this postseason.
A dominating Celtics offense, led by Jaylen Brown's playoff career-high 40 points, was too much for the Pacers to handle, allowing the Pacers to go on a 20-0 run in the first half and giving Boston the lead the rest of the game.
Despite Pascal Siakam's strong third quarter, leading the team with 28 points and five rebounds, the Pacers struggled without Tyrese Haliburton, who finished with just 10 points and eight assists before missing the rest of the game midway through the third quarter with a sore left hamstring.
The series continues in Indiana with Game 3 on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC) and Game 4 on Monday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN2).
After the Celtics' dominating performance at TD Garden, NBA insiders break down the biggest highlights of Game 2, what the Pacers need to do to bounce back in Indiana and what the impending return of center Kristaps Porzingis, who has been out since April 30 with a calf strain, means for the series and potentially the Finals.
1. What was your biggest takeaway from Game 2?
Jamal Collier: Missing Game 1 now hurts Indiana even more. The Pacers entered the series trailing but had a great chance to win the series opener. Returning to Indy with Haliburton's status up in the air should give the Pacers some breathing room. Indiana will have to step up the urgency in Game 3 to save their season, but the All-NBA point guard may not be at 100%.
Tim Bontemps: The Celtics need to get ahead of this series and end it quickly. Boston has struggled in recent playoffs by dragging out series, but after a five-game series to open this playoffs, the top seed in the East is within reach of another early exit. The Western Conference Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves is shaping up to be a long, tough series. If Boston can rest a week, they'll have the best chance of hoisting Banner 18.
Kevin Pelton: Most intriguingly, Boston used 6-foot-7 Oshae Brissett as their smaller center after Luke Kornet left the game with a sprained left wrist. Hopefully, this won't be a long-term issue for the Celtics, as Kristaps Porzingis is due to return. For now, Brissett's ability to guard multiple positions gives coach Joe Mazzulla more options for switching out of the pick-and-roll. Boston swapped him out for Haliburton at times, giving the Celtics the ability to switch without having a smaller defender on the screener. Boston outscored Indiana by 18 points in Brissett's 12 minutes of play. The Celtics can't expect that level of success going forward, but Brissett played a key role against his former team.
2. What is the biggest key for Indiana to get back into this series?
Pelton: Haliburton's healthy. If Haliburton can't perform as well as he did in Indiana's four-game winning streak against the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals and in Game 1 of this series, there's little hope the Pacers will be able to muster enough offensive firepower to keep up with the Celtics. For now, everything else is secondary for Indiana.
Collier: Besides Haliburton's health, the Pacers are hoping returning home will give them the same momentum and fresh legs they had during the postseason (6-0). Pacers coach Rick Carlisle acknowledged some of their legs were tired at the end of Game 2 after three road games in five days, which is why Siakam and Aaron Nesmith didn't play much in the fourth quarter. Getting healthy and running up and down the court will be key for the Pacers to get back in the series.
Bontang: Pelton summed it up: If Haliburton isn't healthy and performs nowhere near the level he's performed at in the past eight playoff games, this series may not go to a Game 5.
3. Truth or fiction: The Celtics should keep Porzingis until the Finals
Collier: Fiction. If he's healthy and able to get on the court before this series is over, it would be worth having him play a game before the Finals, not only to get him back in the game but also to help the rest of the Celtics and get him back into the team's style of play.
Pelton: Fiction. Boston certainly shouldn't rush Porzingis back based on the series so far, but as ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports, it could be beneficial to have Porzingis play before the Finals if he's on track for Game 4.
By the time Game 1 of the Finals begins on June 6, Porzingis will have missed more than five weeks. According to my research, only three players have returned to the Finals from a longer absence since 1997: Jamar Nelson in 2009 (who missed the entire playoffs), DeMarcus Cousins in 2019 and Andre Iguodala in 2022. None of those players averaged more than 18 minutes per game in the series. The Celtics will want Porzingis prepared to take on a much bigger role than that.
Bontang: Fiction. The Celtics' goal was to have Porzingis back at some point in this series. If he returns and maybe plays just a little bit of time with Kornet's wrist injury, the 7'3″ big man could get back in the game before a potential Finals appearance. Gradually bringing him back while still holding a comfortable lead in the series before the end of this round would be the best outcome for the Celtics.
