The Boston Celtics shocked the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of their first-round matchup with suffocating defense. Most notably, the C’s held Indiana to only eight points in the third quarter, leading to the eventual 84-74 finish.
After the Pacers jumped out to a 45-38 first-half lead, Boston placed its focus on shutting everything down in the paint. That translated into Indiana’s 2-for-10 shooting performance in the third quarter, giving the Celtics an opening to take a lead they would never surrender again.
Brad Stevens told reporters the adjustment was something Boston was prepared for heading into the contest, even though it took time for the Celtics to adjust.
The biggest point we made at the break was protecting the paint. Not as much physically-wise, but more from just the standpoint of those roles that I talked about where they got down the middle of us and on us and laid it in. You can’t give teams layups and you got to challenge shots as well as you can and then rebounding and owning your space on offense had been our number one and two [points of] emphasis over the last four days. Disappointing the way that they got up and under us a little.
He continued:
We knew that they would come at us, you watch the film of the last few Game 1’s they’ve played; at Cleveland the last two years, at Toronto the year before like they get after you and we knew that was coming. Still shocked us a little bit, but we did a great job on the glass for the most part.
With the Pacers lacking superstar talent after losing Victor Oladipo earlier in the season, it would seem this will remain Boston’s foundation on the defensive end moving forward.
