Celtics turn 4 steals into 8 points in 93 seconds to stun Pacers
The Boston Celtics entered Wednesday having lost four straight games and six of their last seven, reeling after a Tuesday loss to the New York Knicks that had head coach Brad Stevens questioning his team’s commitment to doing the little things that win ballgames, especially in close-and-late situations.
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“If we don’t improve in the details, then we don’t have a chance,” Stevens said after Tuesday’s game, according to Yaron Weitzman of SB Nation. “So we either will, or we’ll be lucky to win games.”
Boston did improve on Wednesday, especially in one key area: not letting the Indiana Pacers get the ball near the basket in the final 2 1/2 minutes.
After letting an 11-point third-quarter lead slip away, the Celtics found themselves trailing 92-89 with just over three minutes remaining in the fourth. And then, all of a sudden, the C’s locked in and got back to the hectoring, harrying brand of on-ball defense that sparked their rise to the top of the league’s defensive efficiency rankings earlier this year, snagging steals on four Pacer possessions in a 93-second span:
All four steals led to Boston layups or dunks, sending the TD Garden faithful into a frenzy and turning a three-point deficit into a 97-94 lead with 58 seconds left.
“All pick-6s, too,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said after the game, according to Ken Powtak of The Associated Press. “That was the game. Give them credit for getting up and pressuring us. That’s what they do.”
After a missed 3-pointer by Indy star Paul George, Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas sprinted the other way for a layup that extended the lead to five with 31 seconds left; from there, a couple of Pacer misses, Celtics rebounds and trips to the foul line for Thomas sealed the deal, as Boston closed the game on a 12-0 run to score a 103-94 win that snapped the C’s four-game skid and improved them to 20-19 on the season.
The late-game larceny of Jae Crowder, Amir Johnson and Marcus Smart earned praise from leather-lunged lifelong Celtic and color commentator Tommy Heinsohn:
… and the ramped-up defensive intensity earned plenty of tongue-in-cheek praise.
While “steal it and get a layup” probably wasn’t the message Stevens emphasized midway through the fourth, that rededication to aggressive perimeter defense aimed at disrupting the opposition, forcing turnovers and creating transition-offense opportunities played a pivotal role in helping the Celtics get off the schneid and back to their winning ways. From Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe:
“We needed it,” Celtics guard Marcus Smart said. “Everybody was out there talking, ‘We need this game. We can’t lose this game. Somebody’s got to make a play.’ And four different guys made four different plays in under a minute and a half.”
Coach Brad Stevens has made it very clear that this team’s identity is its defense, and in the final minutes, that was the case. […]
“I thought the turnovers and forcing those turnovers were huge,” Stevens said. “And those guys, that’s what they do.”
“That was a video game,” guard Isaiah Thomas said. “I definitely seen that on one of the video games I played, that was crazy.”
Thomas wasn’t too shabby himself, turning in his third straight big scoring performance with 28 points on 9-for-18 shooting, including eight in the fourth quarter, to go with four rebounds and three assists in 35 minutes of work. Crowder added 25 points on 11-for-16 shooting, while power forward Johnson chipped in 14 points along with 18 rebounds and six assists (both season highs) for the Celtics, who now sit just a half-game behind the Orlando Magic for the No. 8 spot in the East.
Ultimately, though, it was the Celtics’ ability to force Indiana’s hand and press the Pacers into mistakes that turned the tide. Boston scored 36 points off 20 Pacer turnovers, highlighted by the late-game flurry that erased Indy’s advantage and left the Pacers looking for answers. From Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star:
“Today was pretty much inexcusable,” [Pacers swingman C.J.] Miles said. “We turned the ball over. It wasn’t like we even got shots to allow ourselves a chance. We turned the ball over. Execution down the stretch …”
A rush of bad plays must’ve flooded Miles’ mind because he took his time counting the turnovers – four total – before finishing his thought.
“… you can’t do that,” Miles surmised. “I don’t know what else to say.”
Sounds like the Celtics even stole the words right out of his mouth.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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