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The Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics head to the TD Garden on Wednesday night for Game 2 of their Eastern Conference First Round series.
Defensive-Minded
The Celtics took a defensive-minded and rugged Game 1, winning 84-74 despite shooting just 36.4% from the floor and committing 20 turnovers. That’s because the Celtics defended better and limited Indiana to 74 points and a more paltry 33.3% shooting and 22.2% three point percentage.
Kyrie Irving bucked a slow start to finish with 20 points, the same output as forward Marcus Morris as Boston rallied from 11 points down in the first half to win by double digits. Jayson Tatum scored 15 points and Gordon Hayward added 10 points as well. Al Horford had a double double with 11 points and 10 boards for Boston.
Shut Down In The Third
The Pacers had a better start than the Celtics as they took a seven point lead at the break. However, the Celtics put the clamps on the Pacers and Indiana managed to score only 8 points in the third quarter while Boston made 25 points of their own to take control of the game. In all, the Pacers scored just 29 points in the second half, their lowest second half output of the season.
Cory Joseph led Indiana with 14 points while Bojan Bogdanovic was the only Indiana starter in double digits with 12 points. The rest of Indiana’s starting unit combined to score just 26 points with Darren Collison going 3-11 from the floor. Domantas Sabonis shot 3-9 for seven points and Indiana’s bench scored 36 points combined.
Who Wins?
Indiana is 4-6 SU in their last 10 games played. The Pacers are 2-3 SU in their last five games on the road. Boston is 6-4 SU in their last 10 games played. The Celtics are 2-2 SU in their last four games played at home. Head to head, the Celtics are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games against the Pacers. Boston is also 16-6 SU in their last 22 head to head meetings at the TD Garden.
Game 1 was downright ugly as Boston won despite scoring just 84 points. In fact, it was the first time this season that the Celtics won a game without scoring 100 points. You can put the blame on good defense and shooting woes to the low scores. Both teams shot below 37% from the floor. The Celtics also committed 20 turnovers while Indiana only had 13.
Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward were playing their first playoff games since 2017 so the jitters were expected. Remember that Boston played without the two last season and still made the conference Finals. Irving finished with 20 points while Hayward had 10. It wasn’t the kind of start that Boston wanted but a win is a win.
The difference between the two is that Boston can shoot better in Game 2 given the talent on their team while Indiana may continue to struggle if Boston continues to play tough defense. That’s because the Pacers don’t have their top shot-maker in Oladipo. I expect Boston to shoot better in Game 2 and win convincingly.
I’m picking the Boston Celtics to beat the Indiana Pacers in Game 2.
Other Bets To Make
The Pacers are 5-5 ATS in their last 10 games played. Indiana is 3-2 ATS in their last five games on the road. The Celtics are 4-6 ATS in their last 10 games played. Boston is 0-4 ATS in their last four games played at home. Head to head, the Celtics are 3-1 ATS in their last four meetings against the Pacers.
Pacers
+7.5 (-110)
Celtics
-7.5 (-110)
Odds from betonline.ag as of 4/17/19
Indiana is 6-1 ATS in their last seven conference quarterfinals games but are just 2-6 ATS in their last 8 Wednesday games and 7-16 ATS in their last 23 road games. Boston is 9-2 ATS in their last 11 conference quarterfinals games, 20-5-1 ATS in their last 26 Wednesday games but are 1-4 ATS in their last five games when playing on two days rest. Boston won Game 1 by double digits despite shooting just 36.4% from the field. With Game 2 still at the TD Garden, you can expect them to shoot better in Game 2. As for Indiana, I think they played their best but without Oladipo, it’s not going to be enough against the talented Celtics. Indiana is also just 2-7 ATS in their last nine games when they are underdogs by at least six points.
Prediction: Celtics -7.5
The over is 6-4 in Indiana’s last 10 games played. The total has gone under in three out of the last five road games played by the Pacers. The Celtics have seen the total go over in seven out of their last 10 games played. The over is 3-1 in Boston’s last four games at the TD Garden. Head to head, the over is 6-4 in the last 10 games between the Pacers and Celtics. However, the under is 6-3 in the last nine games between these two teams in Boston.
Pacers
O 202.5 -110
Celtics
U 202.5 -110
Odds from betonline.ag as of 4/17/19
The over is 5-2 in the Pacers’ last seven games overall and the over is 4-1 in the Celtics’ last five games overall. These teams put a premium on defense and couple with some poor shooting, the combined for a measly 158 points in Game 1. Indiana shot just 33.3% while Boston made just 36.4% of their shots. I still expect good defense from both sides in Game 2 but I don’t see them struggling as much with their shooting as both teams start getting comfortable with being in the postseason. 202.5 is too low even for a defensive matchup like this. Game 1 was an exception with the jitters.
Prediction: Over 202.5
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