Indiana Missed Chance To Win Against the Celtics
Pacers vs Celtics Betting: Still Backing Boston

The Indiana Pacers choked away a potential Game 1 win as a 9.5-point underdog against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. All the Pacers had to do was inbound the ball and get fouled in just over 10 seconds on the clock. However, the Pacers couldn’t execute the inbounds play, and Boston capitalized to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Eventually, the Celtics won the game outright, leaving Indiana stunned. The Pacers ultimately cost themselves the series with that loss. If the Pacers can’t close out Boston on the road, Indiana has no chance of going to the NBA Championship.
Despite the near victory, oddsmakers aren’t making many changes to the odds for Game 2. The Celtics are still -9, with the total at 224.5.
Check out our Pacers vs Celtics betting preview for Game 2 of this series. Can the Celtics at least cover the spread in this one?
Pacers vs Celtics 
Records: Indiana Pacers (55-42), Boston Celtics (73-20)
Day/Time:
Location: TD Garden, Boston, MA (Game 2)
Streaming: ESPN
Pacers vs Celtics Betting Trends
In Game 1 of the series, the Pacers covered the 9.5-point spread, and the over 223 hit before overtime even began.
In the last two NBA games between the Pacers and Celtics, Boston has won seven of ten straight up, but the Pacers have won seven of ten games against the spread.
Meanwhile, the total has gone over in six of the last ten games. It’s also gone over in three consecutive head-to-head matchups this season, including Game 1 of the playoffs.
Our NBA picks for Game 2 were helped out by these trends.
Rick Carlisle Takes The Blame For Game 1 Loss
The Pacers fumbled the bag late in the fourth quarter. Andrew Nembhard just had to inbound the ball to a teammate. Yet, the Pacers couldn’t execute and ultimately turned the ball over with a 3-point lead and seconds on the clock.
Boston drew up a baseline out-of-bounds play and found Jaylen Brown in the corner. Despite Pascal Siakam in his space, Brown launched a three and tied the game. That forced overtime, where the Celtics escaped with the win.
After the game, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle took the blame, suggesting he should’ve called a timeout to move the ball to the other side of the court. That would’ve given the Pacers more flexibility to get the ball in.
Unfortunately, the Pacers will have to live with that decision.
Make sure to tune into Game 2 of the series, as it’ll be the only NBA game tonight.
Jrue Holiday Stepped Up In Game 1
This season, Jrue Holiday was only fifth on the Celtics in scoring. He added 12.5 points per game, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists with Boston. We’re not used to seeing Holiday take a backseat regarding scoring. But he wasn’t ever the main guy for Boston this year. Derrick White became the fourth scorer behind Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Kristaps Porzingis.
Holiday has averaged just 12 points even in the NBA playoffs and is still the Celtics’ fifth-leading scorer in postseason play. Yet, in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, Holiday proved he’s still got it.
The two-time All-Star dropped 28 points and grabbed seven rebounds with eight assists to help lead Boston past Indiana. It just shows you how deep the Celtics are, especially when Porzingis is in the lineup.
In the meantime, Porzingis could return to the NBA hardwood for Game 4. He would also likely be available for the Celtics in the NBA Finals if they get there.
Keep The Offense Coming
In our earlier series preview, we acknowledged how good both offenses have been throughout the season. That was very clear in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Many NBA scores have gone over the total in Indiana games.
In Game 1, the Celtics scored 118.8 points per 100 possessions and shot a 55.6% effective field goal percentage.
It wasn’t even close to their best offensive game in the postseason, yet the Celtics still scored 133 points thanks to five extra minutes in overtime.
Even without overtime, Boston still scored 117 points in regulation after earning below 30% of offensive rebounds.
On defense, the Celtics forced 19.6% of turnovers. That’s rare for Boston and also rare for Indiana’s offense. Don’t expect that to continue throughout the series.
The Celtics also allowed 30.4% of offensive rebounds. That was the most rebounds they had allowed on the defensive glass in the postseason. Therefore, don’t expect that to continue either.
What you can expect to continue is Indiana’s lack of foul shots. Some casuals will argue about the Celtics and Pacers free throw differential.
But the Celtics are one the best defensively in terms of limiting foul shots. It showed in Game 1, after Indiana took just ten free throws in the entire game, including a five-minute overtime period.
While the Pacers out-shot the Celtics in Game 1, Indiana still lost because they took 20 fewer foul shots and turned the ball over seven more times.
Therefore, we’re not afraid to back the Celtics against the spread at -9 (-110) in Game 2 in our Pacers vs Celtics betting preview.
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