Indiana Pacers Resilient After Heartbreaking Game 1 Loss to Celtics

At the end of Game 1 on Tuesday, the Indiana Pacers were leading by three points with nine seconds remaining and were on the verge of securing a victory in the series opener at TD Garden. After one turnover, a Jaylen Brown double bang, and 10 Jayson Tatum points in overtime, the Celtics were rejoicing.

Tatum stated that it doesn’t demonstrate anything. We emerged victorious in a significant match. The series is not finished yet. Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle stated that their team simply needs to continue battling the way they did in this game. “We will return on Thursday as well.”

“We’re gonna continue to play our game and be persistent as possible..

We fight for every inch of the floor and keep the ball moving” ~ Rick Carlisle #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/xnS0auY70N

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 22, 2024

The Indiana Pacers have faced this situation previously, rebounding from Game 1 defeats against the Bucks and Knicks in earlier rounds. According to history, Game 2 tonight (8 ET, ESPN) might have a more significant influence on the series compared to Game 1.

Game 2 in Boston 👀 pic.twitter.com/xH1xM0a7Eu

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 23, 2024

• Teams that are defeated in the first game of the Conference/Division Finals have a historical series record of 29 wins and 105 losses, giving them a 21.6% likelihood of winning.
• Teams that are defeated in Games 1 & 2 during the Conference/Division Finals have a historical record of 6 wins and 74 losses in the series (a 7.5% probability of winning).
• Teams that even the series at 1-1 after being behind 0-1 in a Conference/Division Finals have a historical record of 23-31 in the series (equating to a 42.6% probability of winning).

Even though Indiana lost the series opener on Tuesday, there are still many positives to carry forward.

Indiana Pacers Takeaways

Despite the fact, that it reached 32 points, Indy turned the ball over 21 times, which went to Boston’s benefit, the Pacers were very close to the road win as they dominated in some crucial factors.

• Assists:  Indiana Pacers was involved in 21 giveaways, the most among all the teams in this playoffs, but the Pacers also had 38 assists, tying up their franchise playoff record.
• Shooting:  The Pacers (53. 5%) shot over 50% for the ninth time this postseason, tying the other three conference finalists combined for three total.
• Comebacks:  During the first three-quarters of the game, Indiana Pacers came from behind and managed to level the scores thrice after being down by double digits.
• Balance:  Tyrese Haliburton scored 25 points and registered 10 assists, Pascal Siakam had 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Myles Turner had 23 pts and 10 rebounds and four other Pacers had 12+ points.
• No Panic:  The Indiana Pacers’ hope allowed them to come from behind against Milwaukee and New York, they hope to do the same against Boston who is 0-2 in Game 2s this postseason.

Following a defeat in the first match against Milwaukee, Indiana clinched four out of the next five matches to proceed to the next round and after being down in the series 2-0, they eliminated the Knicks in seven games.

Haliburton: “What I will say is encouraging is that we’ve been trash in Game 1s… Today, we played great for about 47 minutes.”

THEY NEED HIM👀

Tyrese Haliburton OVER 8.5 Assist (-110) 🏀

– Over 3/3 games when playing 35+ vs BOS
– 20 potential assist in game 1
– Played 41 minutes in game 1
– Over 26/32 games when playing 35+ minutes
– 90% hit rate when playing 38+ minutes
– Averaging 10.45 APG this… pic.twitter.com/ZXckYWeK78

— UnSeen Sports (@UnSeenSports_) May 23, 2024

Turner: “You go back to the Milwaukee series; we lost that Game 1. You go back to the New York series; we lost that Game 1 in a close fashion as well. So, it’s definitely a long series.”

🏀NBA Play #2

Myles Turner U 2.5 SB
(-120 ESPN)

⁃Turner is under this line in 9 straight games vs the Celtics dating back to last season.

⁃The last 30 games Turner is 11/30 (37%) at this line.

⁃The Celtics allowed the fewest blocks per game this season. Turner, known for… pic.twitter.com/MncQOAZYGX

— Next Level Bets (@NextLevelBets_) May 23, 2024

Siakam: “As long as we continue to do us, we’ll be fine.”

NBA Plays May 23rd:

Pascal Siakam Over 19.5 Points
Jrue Holiday Over 13.5 Points
Tyrese Haliburton Over 12.5 Reb + Ast
Al Horford Under 21.5 Pts + Reb + Ast

$200 to Someone who LIKES if we go 4-0

Just posted 3 Extra Plays on Whop get a
Free Trial ➡️ https://t.co/9H9GciNSwJ pic.twitter.com/XWyNvyZ7fR

— Alex Caruso (@AlexCaruso) May 23, 2024

Once more Indiana is to be challenged as they seek to draw even and take the series back to Indianapolis with them and some valuable momentum.