After a brief stop at home that resulted in a big win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, the Celtics (4-0) returned to the road and continued a four-game winning streak to take on the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse (1-3) in a rematch in the Eastern Conference finals. This is the first time the Celtics have played in Indiana since Game 4, where they defeated the Pacers in a sweep and advanced to the NBA Finals.

However, the Pacers would get revenge, defeating the Celtics 135-132 in an overtime thriller.

While the Pacers would be without big man Myles Turner, the Celtics brought back Sam Hauser after he missed the last three games with a back injury. Isaiah Jackson replaced Turner in the Pacers’ starting lineup alongside stars Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, Celtics hitter Andrew Nembhard and former Celtic Aaron Nesmith.

1st quarter

It wasn’t an ideal start for the Celtics, as Andrew Nembhard beat Derrick White on the ball after the first tip and scored a layup. Jaylen Brown scored first for the Celtics with a dunk after an impressive pass from Jrue Holiday on the fast break. Brown was on fire at the start, getting to the basket at will and scoring 8 points in the first 6 minutes.

There was a scary moment for the Celtics when Jayson Tatum was hit in the face by Andrew Nembhard’s chest while trying to catch a pass under the basket. Tatum was a little shaken up but stayed in the game.

The Pacers jumped out to an early 7-point lead and made a concerted effort to attack Boston at the rim on the offensive side of the ball. Meanwhile, the Celtics were sloppy, turning the ball over four times and allowing at least four wide-open layups. The Celtics struggled to score three points as the normally porous Indiana defense held them to just 3-for-10 shooting from distance.

Derrick White would do his best Payton Pritchard impression by hitting a buzzer-beating shot of a Pacers layup at the end of the quarter, but Indiana held a 35-31 lead at the end of the 1st quarter. The Celtics finished the quarter shooting 11-for-26 (42.3%) from the field, with Brown being the leading scorer and Pascal Siakam leading the Pacers with 9 points.

2nd quarter

The Celtics bench really kept Boston in the game early in the 2nd quarter as we had a Slam Hauser performance in its first game back from injury and Payton Pritchard continued his hot shooting start with two three pointers that led to a Pacers timeout.

Boston’s sloppy play continued, however, and the Pacers jumped out to a 13-point lead, including a 16-4 run due to more missed layups, poor turnovers and zero rim protection. Pascal Siakam continued to cook, scoring 8 points, hitting 2 three-pointers and setting up his teammates for easy baskets. The Pacers did whatever they wanted on offense. Every missed shot by the Celtics ended with someone from Indiana immediately running and making an easy shot in transition.

The Celtics continued to struggle from beyond the arc, missing six straight three-pointers. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were the main triggers of those struggles, combining to go 2-for-13 from three in the half. Tyrese Haliburton wasn’t much better, scoring just three points on 1-for-6 shooting in the first half. On the bright side, Luke Kornet dominated on offense, grabbing six of his seven rebounds in the first half on that side of the ball. Derrick White made another great play at the end of the half, blocking a halfcourt shot from Tyrese Haliburton at the buzzer, but that was perhaps Boston’s best highlight of the quarter as the Pacers took a 67-57 lead into halftime.

Overall, this was by far the worst first half of the season for the Celtics. The Pacers scored 40 points IN THE PAINT against Boston, only the third time that has ever happened under Joe Mazzulla. Indiana shot 27-50 (54%) from the field and the Celtics had no chance on defense.

Not only was the defense poor, Boston also had a terrible performance on offense, finishing the half 19-51 (37.3%) from the field and 8-24 (33.3%) from three. Tatum struggled but still led the Celtics with 15 points on 5-12 shooting from the field and 2-8 from three. Siakam continued to be the Pacers’ leading scorer with 17.

3rd quarter

Pascal Siakam didn’t let up, hitting back-to-back three-pointers for the Pacers to open the second half. Bennedict Mathurin also got going, scoring 11 straight points for Indiana thanks to easy layups. Jrue Holiday scored 7 points early in the quarter, but Mathurin’s 14 points and a 12-4 run increased the Pacers’ lead to 22 points (90-68), their largest lead of the night.

Payton Pritchard would end a 13-0 Pacers run with a three-pointer, but the Celtics’ output was at an all-time low. Holiday smoked another easy layup and Brown got a steal but immediately turned it over, which was just an embarrassing play overall. Sam Hauser hit an impressive shot with a 26-foot 3-pointer on the fast break and it was nice to see him looking like himself in his first game back.

The Celtics finally began to attack the basket as Jayson Tatum’s lineup and the bench came together, leading to a 14-4 run for the Celtics in the final 3:35 of the quarter. Tatum pushed to the rim with aggression, leading to a tough put-back at two and a buzzer-beating layup to cut the Celtics’ deficit to 100-86 at the end of the third.

After three quarters, the Celtics shot 30-77 (39%) from the field and 12-37 (32.4%) from three quarters. Tatum had 24 points to lead the Celtics, while Siakam and Mathurin had 23 to lead the Pacers.

4th quarter

TJ McConnell essentially ended the game for the Celtics by inviting Mathurin to run at the rim and finishing with an Obi Toppin dunk that sent the Indiana crowd into a frenzy. McConnell gestured toward the crowd and wet Tyrese Haliburton’s father as the Celtics called a timeout with 8:55 left and lost 112-91.

The Celtics lined up Jaylen Brown and the bench after the timeout. Neemias Queta immediately caught an alley-oop and Brown hit a three-pointer, leading to a Pacers timeout just 40 seconds into the game and the Celtics trailing by 16 with a glimmer of hope for a comeback.

Trailing by 15 with 5:17 left, the Celtics used Tatum and White alongside Pritchard and Queta. After a three-pointer from Nesmith, White hit a three-pointer and Brown got a dunk to cut the deficit to 11. Tatum hit a wicked three-pointer back over Nesmith to cut it to 10, Isaiah Jackson made two free throws, then White hit a three-pointer to cut it to 9. After a Siakam hiked, White hit a layup, got a steal off the inbound pass and Tatum got a steal hit two free throws to cut the deficit to 5. Jaylen Brown would steal the ball from Mathurin on the next possession It’s a 3-point game with 1:04 left.

After the Pacers’ timeout, Queta made an incredible block on a Sheppard layup and Haliburton missed a three-pointer that led to a Tatum fast-break drive, was fouled, made two free throws and cut the deficit to 1 point with 34 remaining .3 were left. Haliburton hit a floater at 20.8 to go back up by three, but Jayson Tatum stepped up and hit a crazy three-pointer between the eyes of Haliburton to tie the game with 14.4 left. Haliburton missed the final shot of regulation time and the Celtics, who had lost 24 points in the game, came back to force overtime. An absolutely incredible 14-2 run to end the quarter. What a comeback.

Over time

At 4:23, Haliburton scored the first points of overtime with a three-pointer, but Tatum missed a three-pointer to answer. Mathurin missed a wide-open three-pointer, Tatum missed another three-pointer, but Queta passed the ball to Brown, who was fouled. Brown missed BOTH free throws, but Siakam couldn’t counter and missed a three-pointer of his own.

Derrick White, being the perfect human being that he is, would end the game with a three-pointer with 2:51 left. Mathurin missed a three-pointer, Toppin got the rebound and as the shot clock expired, with maybe 0.1 seconds left, Siakam was fouled by Derrick White. Siakam passed at the line to make the score 1-2, and Tatum drove to the rim, was fouled and scored at the line to make the score 1-2, tying the game. McConnell missed a shot, but the Pacers got another rebound and Mathurin made a layup.

Another big offensive rebound after two missed throws by Queta led to Pritchard hitting two free throws, tying the game with 1:09 left. Toppin missed a three-pointer in the corner and then converted a goalie penalty after a layup by Derrick White, giving the Celtics their first lead since the first quarter, 132-130, with 39.7 seconds left.

After the Pacers’ timeout, Haliburton hit an inbounds shot to Siakam and he tied the game with a beautiful fadeaway over Brown with 36 seconds left. After the Celtics’ timeout, Pritchard hit an inbounds shot to Tatum, who missed a three-pointer, but Pritchard fought with Sheppard under the rim to force a jump ball with 27.3 minutes left. Sheppard won the tip-off, Haliburton ran out the clock, Siakam set a ghost screen, slipped and hit a three-pointer, giving the Pacers the lead with six seconds left.

On the Celtics’ final possession, White hit an inbounds shot to Jaylen Brown, who tied the game at three with an aerial ball and ended the Celtics’ chances of a win. It was the Celtics’ first loss of the season.

Jayson Tatum finished the game leading the Celtics with 37 points and 8 rebounds on 10-25 from the field and 5-18 from three. Bennedict Mathurin led the Pacers with 30 points, but Pascal Siakam was the real MVP for Indiana, dropping 29 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 11-20 from the field and 6-8 from three, including the game-winner.

The Celtics’ next game is Friday against the Charlotte Hornets as Boston looks to bounce back from the loss.