Post Game - Celtics vs. Pacers - Monday, January 08 (L)

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401585135

Celtics Wrap: Pacers Defeat Boston, Benefit From Late Controversial Call

https://nesn.com/2024/01/celtics-wrap-pacers-defeat-boston-benefit-from-late-controversial-call/

It was a rough final minute for Boston
KEAGAN STIEFEL 1 MINUTE AGO 3 MIN READ

After an electric overtime win against the Pistons, Jayson Tatum expresses his focus for the Celtics this season: a championship.

The Boston Celtics couldn’t complete a two-game sweep of the Indiana Pacers on Monday, falling, 133-131, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The C’s fell to 28-8, while the Pacers improved to 21-15.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY

It would have been easy for the Pacers to lie down after Tyrese Haliburton, their unquestioned star, went down with what looked to be a serious injury in the second quarter.

They did the opposite.

Indiana pushed Boston to its limit, stringing together a pair of runs that put the Pacers in the driver’s seat entering the final quarter.

The Celtics’ inability to pull away, mixed with the Pacers’ lethal offense, helped Indiana keep this one close in the final minutes, which is where things got weird.

The Pacers benefitted from two calls, both of which could be viewed as controversial. Jaylen Brown appeared to be fouled in a tie game, with less than five seconds on the clock, but Indiana challenged the call and had it overturned — despite the fact that Brown was hit in the head on the play. Kristaps Porzingis was then called for a foul on the Pacers’ ensuing possession, allowing Indiana to hit a pair of free throws and close it out.

STARS OF THE GAME

— Brown was tremendous in the absence of Tatum, scoring a season-high 40 points. He added five rebounds on the night, making 17-of-26 attempts from the field.

— T.J. McConnell, who was tasked with replacing Haliburton following the star’s injury, filled in admirably. He finished with 12 points, seven assists and two steals.

— Benedict Mathurin showed why he was the No. 6 pick last year, pouring in 26 points on 8-for-15 shooting. He chipped in with four rebounds, three assists and two steals, as well as making the game-winning free throws.

WAGER WATCH

Aaron Nesmith missed all seven of his attempts from distance in Indiana and Boston’s previous matchup, but bounced back to connect X times from three-point range Monday. If you saw him clearing 1.5, which was the number set by DraftKings Sportsbook, a $100 bet could have netted you $174.07.

UP NEXT

The Celtics will head back home for a matchup with the Timberwolves on Wednesday. Boston and Minnesota, the NBA’s top two teams, are scheduled to tip things off from TD Garden at 7 p.m. ET.

From another perspective:


Bennedict Mathurin's free throws give Pacers win vs. Celtics after Haliburton's injury

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2024/01/08/pacers-vs-celtics-mathurins-free-throws-bring-win-after-haliburton-injury/72074112007/


Dustin Dopirak
Indianapolis Star

INDIANAPOLIS -- Bennedict Mathurin hit two free throws with 0.6 left to give the Pacers a 133-131 win over the Celtics on a night when All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton left the game with a left hamstring injury.

The Pacers have won seven of their last eight games and improved to 21-15. The Celtics still have the NBA's best record at 28-8.

Here are four observations.

Pacers news:Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton leaves game against Celtics with left hamstring strain

Tyrese Haliburton leaves game with injury, but Pacers respond
Haliburton slipped twice on the floor near the south bucket at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The first time he wiped out on a drive but then got up easily. The second time he did a split with his right leg going forward while his left leg stayed behind. He was instantly in serious pain, and though he managed to stand up, he was carried off the floor by veterans and close friends Buddy Hield and James Johnson. At halftime, the Pacers announced that Haliburton had suffered a left hamstring strain and would not return to the game.

Haliburton, who entered the game averaging 24.2 points and an NBA-leading 12.7 assists per game, already had seven points and six assists before suffering the injury with 3:10 to go in the second quarter. The Pacers had to start second-year guard Andrew Nembhard at the point in the second half in his first game since spraining his back against the Bucks on Jan. 1. He had to check out shortly after, however, as he picked up his fourth foul in less than 6:30 of game action. The Pacers had to rely heavily on veterans T.J. McConnell and Bruce Brown to man the backcourt the rest of the way.

The Pacers were initially staggered after the injury. The Celtics went on an 8-3 run to go up by 11 points. However, the Pacers rallied with a sensational third quarter. They outscored the Celtics 44-33, shooting 15 of 22 from the floor, 4 of 7 from 3 and 10 of 10 at the line to post an incredible 1.61 points per possession. They played the Celtics even in the fourth but got the key free throws from Mathurin and big starts at big moments to put the game away.

Pacers get scoring from Mathurin, Turner, Hield Nesmith

One of the dominant critiques of the Pacers roster as they head to the trade deadline less than a month away is that it lacks a clear No. 2 option behind Haliburton to pick up the slack when opponents dedicate defensive resources to taking him away.

There have been times this season when they've needed someone to step up to score at Haliburton's level and it hasn't happened. However, on Monday night they had several potential No. 2s step up when they were needed.

Mathurin, a first-team All-Rookie pick last year who would seem to be the Pacers' best bet to be the eventual No. 2, carried the Pacers in the first half before the Haliburton injury with 13 first-quarter points on 5 of 5 shooting and ended up with 26 points on 8 of 15 shooting including 5 of 9 from 3-point range. Big man Myles Turner, scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds and forward Aaron Nesmith came through from outside with 17 points, shooting 6 of 10 from the floor and 3 of 5 from 3-point range. Hield has been struggling from outside, but he hit some big shots when they were needed, finishing with 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting and 3 of 7 from 3-point range.

T.J. McConnell steps up in Haliburton's absence

There's never a time when Pacers veteran point guard T.J. McConnell is on the floor when he isn't going full tilt, but he always seems to know how to find another gear whenever Haliburton is struggling, facing stifling defensive attention or out with injury. As usual, he did exactly that on Monday night when Haliburton went out.

In that third quarter alone, he scored eight points and had three assists, two rebounds and a steal and gained another possession when he knocked the ball out of bounds off a Celtics player. His ferocity energized everyone else, and he was the first to thump teammate Jalen Smith in the chest after a major block on Jalen Brown. He was +13 in that quarter alone and he finished with 12 points, 7 assists, four rebounds and two steals to finish +10 for the game.

Pacers can't stop Jaylen Brown

The Pacers didn't have to deal with two All-NBA wings with Boston's Jayson Tatum out with an ankle injury after Saturday's 38-point explosion in Boston's win, but one was still tough enough. Forward Jaylen Brown caused the Pacers a lot of problems in the same way he did on Saturday night, hunting mismatches and backing weaker defenders down toward the bucket and driving past bigger ones.

Brown scored 25 points in the first half alone on 11 of 14 shooting including 2 of 2 from 3-point range and he didn't get any easier to stop in the second half. He finished with 40 on 17 of 26 shooting.

Celtics-Pacers takeaways: Pacers persevere after Halibuton's injury

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/celtics-pacers-takeaways-pacers-persevere-033128849.html

My comment: Click on the link for usual text and videos.

These ref’s put themselves in a position to be in the limelight. Both of those calls should never have been made, it will be interesting to see what the league says and how they try to cover this up. It may sound like I am a homer, but these two calls decided the ending of the game. KP was exhausted at the end of the game. Brown was absolutely phenomenal. I am tiring of under trained referees taking the game away from the players. It is so darn wrong. Ok, i have said enough, but they stunk

Hi,
I'd say Celtics decided, for whatever reason, to not play defense. Also, for whatever reason, they decided to skip on FT.
I hope they won't do it again.

AK

Two words.  Free Throws.  Insert Bill Russell paraphrased. "Can you make those martha faulkers?!!  Well then do it, Gotdammit it!!!!!"  IND had no problems making theirs.
Otherwise a very winnable game.  Nothing ventured nothing gained as MIL got manhandled at home against hapless Utah.

Interesting.  Utah played all three of us atop the East.  Only one game/team sample space Utah should have won none of those.  They come out 2-1.  The "1" was a slaughter.  Bodes well for us.  JB unstoppable.  Don't know why P-Squared wasn't out there more.  He was headed for 20+ easy.  Then Joe shout him down in the 4th.        

db

A split it is but Boston had a legit shot at winning this one as well.

In general, Boston could not make enough FT which seems to be a dip lately (20-29) 69%.   Also our perimeter defense was not solid.  It looked like a shooting gallery.  Knowing Joe, he probably sees our 17-35 3PM/3PA and thinks we should have shot more of them.  We shot 48.6% and they shot 19-40 for 47.5%  We average 42.8 3PA per game which is tops in the NBA.

The Celtics were missing 2 top 3 point shooting guys in Hauser and Tatum.  We really do not have enough shooters off the bench to account for them not playing..  PP being the only exception.

i guess our 5th game against them later in the season will be more meaningful as we are now 2-2.  

Tyrese Haliburton has a grade 1 left hamstring strain.  The recovery time should not be too long.  The estimate, is out for 2 weeks.

Buddy Heild admitted to Joe Mazzulla that he hit Jaylen's head, no wonder why they were both so ticked off at the end of the game. And that phantom call on KP was ridiculous too. I know, I know, if they hit their free throws they would not have been in this position, however, it is becoming increasingly aggrivating to watch ref's take over games. Enough said, on to the next game, here's hoping we will be at full strength, although I really am wondering if KP will be ok, he looked a bit off last night, and Al, of course, will not play

RosalieTCeltics wrote:Buddy Heild admitted to Joe Mazzulla that he hit Jaylen's head, no wonder why they were both so ticked off at the end of the game. And that phantom call on KP was ridiculous too.  I know, I know, if they hit their free throws they would not have been in this position, however, it is becoming increasingly aggrivating to watch ref's take over games.  Enough said, on to the next game, here's hoping we will be at full strength, although I really am wondering if KP will be ok, he looked a bit off last night, and Al, of course, will not play

The replay clearly revealed that Heild hit JB on the head with his forearm before he hit the ball. On the KP foul it looked to me that he did make contact with Mathurin.

Rosie I would not get too aggravated with the ref's. The Celtics pretty much crapped away a winnable game.

Ridiculous, this game was clearly stolen, how lame can the refs be. It’s so obvious, the film don’t lie, Jaylen got hit on the back of the head on that shot and no call. Fire or fine one of these guys for incompetence. Then the Zinger call, ESPN was just talking about this, why even have it reviewed or on film/video if they can’t even get it right. Zinger played perfect defense on that play, didn’t touch him and altered the shot.

Sorry Dboss, but the refs are not getting a pass from me. No matter the fact that the Celtics could have played a better game, no ref should insert himself into a position the way they did last night. They did not know what the heck they were calling. My biggest problem is, referees do not know the game, do not know defense, and some are not qualified to be on the floor. No pass from me, screwed up or not from Celtics free throw shooting and lack of defense. He got fouled and that ref had no intention to think about what he was calling. Fool

I like what Eddie House said about this.

It's not so much that the refs got it wrong, but they took 5 minutes to review the play on video, and STILL got it wrong.

I may not have the exact wording, but I believe it is close enough. I felt like that before he said it.

Zinger did commit the foul on the next possession, but it wouldn't have played out that way if the refs called the first play correct after the review.

Here is explanation per Last Two Minute report.

On replay review, the coach's challenge of the shooting foul called on Hield (IND) was deemed successful. The video clearly shows that Hield reaches forward and makes contact with the ball from behind Brown (BOS). While in contact with the ball, Hield also makes minimal contact with Brown's head, and on review that contact was correctly deemed incidental. As the rulebook makes clear, the mere fact that contact occurs does not necessarily constitute a foul; contact which is incidental to an effort by a player to defend an opponent, reach a loose ball, or perform normal defensive or offensive movements is not considered illegal. Play resumed with IND possession, since Nesmith (IND) had imminent possession at the point of interruption.

Last 2 Minute Report reveals critical missed calls in Celtics loss to Pacers


Updated: Jan. 09, 2024, 5:26 p.m.|Published: Jan. 09, 2024, 5:25 p.m.



Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown, left, is fouled by Indiana Pacers guard Buddy Hield, center, during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)AP


By Brian Robb | brobb@masslive.com



The NBA acknowledged two incorrect calls that favored Indiana in the closing two minutes of the Pacers 133-131 win over the Celtics on Monday night. The league released their customary Last 2 Minute Report on Tuesday afternoon that addressed a number of controversial sequences including an overturned foul call against Jaylen Brown.

The report showed that the foul on Kristaps Porzingis while contesting a Benedict Mathurin jumper with 0.6 seconds remaining was an incorrect call since Porzingis “is above the ball and legally contests Mathurin’s (IND) shot attempt, with some incidental arm contact occurring concurrent with the block.” The report also acknowledges a missed offensive foul call on Myles Turner on the same play for setting a moving screen against Derrick White.


However, the league ruled that the overturned foul call by Buddy Hield against Brown was an incorrect no call with a lengthy explanation, stating “The coach’s challenge of the shooting foul called on Hield (IND) was deemed successful. The video clearly shows that Hield reaches forward and makes contact with the ball from behind Brown (BOS). While in contact with the ball, Hield also makes minimal contact with Brown’s head, and on review that contact was correctly deemed incidental. As the rulebook makes clear, the mere fact that contact occurs does not necessarily constitute a foul; contact which is incidental to an effort by a player to defend an opponent, reach a loose ball, or perform normal defensive or offensive movements is not considered illegal.”

Brown was outspoken about his outrage when officials overturned a foul call against Hield that would have sent Brown to the free throw line.

“I think he obviously hit me in the head,” Brown said, per NBC Sports Boston. “I think they definitely need to do some investigation, that’s all I’m going to say. I think that was an obvious one. I’ve never heard of head, part of the ball. It doesn’t make any sense to me.


“I went up and asked like, ‘Did I get hit in the head?’ (The official) looks me straight in the face and he says, ‘No, you didn’t get hit in the head.’ I’m like, ‘OK.’ Then you come down on the other end, that cost our team the game. Then you expect us not to be frustrated. We’re trying to build good habits. We’re trying to win as many games as possible, and we just dropped one because of that.”


Bennedict Mathurin was fouled with 0.6 seconds left in the game by Kristaps Porzingis on a 3-pointer after Hield’s foul was overturned and Indiana was awarded the ball. The Pacers guard hit his first two free throws then intentionally missed the third. Boston grabbed the rebound and called timeout to advance the ball but couldn’t get a tip in from Luke Kornet to go down, resulting in a 133-131 loss.

“I feel like we have the right to be upset,” Brown said. “The league should understand. Of course we’re going to say something about it after the game. So I don’t think there should be any fines. But I definitely think that one should be investigated.”


Bob


.

Hi,
On the topic of the foul on JB.
IMO, it was a foul.
The ref that everybody is complaining about did actually call foul.
It was overturned after the review (I wonder what the NBA report says).
That non-call was actually crucial. Even if JB missed both FTs, the last possession IND had to start from their end because they'd be out of TO; and to get to a realistic shooting range in 3.4 sec is a very tall order.

But all the above is academic. Play a better defense or shoot at least 76% of FT and we wouldn't have this discussions.

AK

For as long as I can recall, most fans understand that the refs are part of the game.  

Calls will be both favorable and unfavorable.  It has always been that way.

The difficult decisions are the ones that appear to be more subjective.  i.e.Jaylen got bumped on the head but it was incidental and had no effect on the shot.  How can you determine effect?  It should have been called a foul.

As far as the KP foul we all know that fouling a 3 point shooter is not particularly smart.  Unfortunately that is what happened.

sinus007 wrote:Hi,
On the topic of the foul on JB.
IMO, it was a foul.
The ref that everybody is complaining about did actually call foul.
It was overturned after the review (I wonder what the NBA report says).
That non-call was actually crucial. Even if JB missed both FTs, the last possession IND had to start from their end because they'd be out of TO; and to get to a realistic shooting range in 3.4 sec is a very tall order.

But all the above is academic. Play a better defense or shoot at least 76% of FT and we wouldn't have this discussions.

AK

+1

Sucks to lose that way.

So old all time foe Lebron James also disagreed with the reversed call on X, backing Jaylens version. I’ve rewatched the play 6 times and Hield forearm hits the head first on the way to the ball, which he misses. Lebron even chimed in they look at the replay and still can’t get it right, something exactly to that effect. Fact is the whole year Jaylen has been going to the basket hard and getting a lot of contact and he NEVER gets the calls all year!!! Then other guys a little touch here and there and they get to the line. This is complete BS and it happens all the time. This one cost us the game!!!

The good news is that Jaylen is consistently a fearless monster going to the hoop, and he's a Celtic for years to come.

worcester wrote:The good news is that Jaylen is consistently a fearless monster going to the hoop, and he's a Celtic for years to come.

Yes he sure is a beast going to the hole.

I’m still pissed these refs are so bad and get away with it!!

Oh and the guy that got the reverse call, Buddy Hield he even admitted he fouled Jaylen.