BOSTON– Jaylen Brown was a big enough problem for the Indiana Pacers even before an All-NBA loss that it may have given him an added desire to show how much he can do for the Boston Celtics.
“I think he cares about it in a way that motivates him, and I think he doesn’t really care about it,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said after watching Brown equal his playoff career high of 40 points. at 126-110 Boston. win over Indiana in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday night.
“He understands that winning is the most important thing,” Mazzulla said. “He only cares about the right things.”
Two nights after his game-saving 3-pointer and a day after being left out of voting for the league’s top 15 players, Brown scored 10 points during a 20-0 Boston run that turned a deficit around. of the first room in one second. quarter lead that the Celtics never lost.
Asked if the All-NBA snub motivated him, Brown said, “I wouldn’t say that.” Asked to give more details, he said colorfully: “There are two games left until the final. I don’t have time to (care).
Jayson Tatum and Derrick White each scored 23 points and Jrue Holiday had 15 points and 10 assists for the Celtics, who lost Game 2 in both of their previous series this postseason.
Pascal Siakam scored 28 points for Indiana, which returns home for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday nights in an arena where it has won 11 straight games — including six in the playoffs — since March 18. 10 assists in the series opener, had 10 points and eight assists in the fifth before leaving the game in the third.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Haliburton injured his left hamstring — the same injury that kept him out of 10 games in January.
“We need Ty, but the ‘next man up’ mentality,” Siakam said. “We have to play together. This team got to where it is by playing together. … It’s up to us to keep going.”
One game after the Celtics jumped out to a 12-0 lead and Indiana spent the rest of the first half rallying, the lead changed hands 10 times in the first quarter, with the Pacers holding a 27-22 lead with 1 :14 left.
Then Boston scored the next 20 points.
Indiana missed nine shots and committed four turnovers during the drought that lasted more than six minutes. Brown scored 10 on his own during the run and had 24 by halftime; he opened the third quarter with two quick baskets to give the Celtics a 61-52 lead.
But Siakam also did well in the second half, hitting four baskets in the first four minutes – a pair of 2s and a pair of 3s – to make it a two-point game. Boston pulled away again – this time for good, scoring 16 of the next 21 points.
Indiana never got within single digits again.
Brown scored 26 points on Tuesday night as the Celtics won thanks to some unforced errors from the Pacers — especially Haliburton — down the stretch. On Wednesday, Brown was left off the All-NBA teams; Last year’s second-team selection qualified him for a five-year supermax extension that made him the NBA’s highest-paid player.
“I mean, he’s doing it,” Holiday said. “You see what I see. Great player. Great leader. But he wants to win. And think with your own hands. So I’m happy to have you by my side. I walk with him. The way JB has been playing, man, is excellent.”
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