BOSTON - After hitting the biggest shot of his career in Game 1, Jaylen Brown hit back-to-back shots Thursday night to lead the Celtics to a Game 2 victory over the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals. Two days after hitting the game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation and a day after being removed from the All-NBA team, Brown scored 40 points at TD Garden to lead the Celtics to a 126-110 victory. This was Brown's second 40-point game in his postseason career, and the 11th time Brown has scored at least 30 points in a playoff game. Thanks to Brown's offensive breakthrough, the Celtics are two wins away from returning to the NBA Finals for the second time in three seasons. Brown made his breakthrough in Game 2, scoring at all three levels. He sank a 3-point shot, completed the comeback, and headed toward the trophy.
Brown made 14 of 27 shots, 4 of 10 from 3-point range, and also added eight points from the charity stripe. He really took control in the second quarter, giving the Celtics a runaway lead and turning the game in Boston's favor. At the end of the first quarter, the Pacers held a two-point lead. But it didn't last long, as the Celtics went on a 20-0 run for the final 31 seconds of the first quarter and nearly midway through the second. Brown scored half of those points and the run turned a 27-25 Pacers lead into a 42-27 Celtics lead.
Boston briefly led by 16 points, led by Brown's 17 points in the second quarter. He scored more than half of Boston's 32 points on target. But the troublesome Pacers refused to back down. Despite Boston's monster winning streak, Indiana trailed by just six points at halftime thanks to Pascal Siakam, who scored 10 straight points against the Pacers at the end of the first half. As the Celtics began their run, the Pacers finished the second quarter on a 22-12 run, cutting Boston's lead to 57-51 at halftime. Jayson Tatum only had four points by halftime, but he got back on track in the second half. He scored eight points in the quarter, and Brown's nine points gave the Celtics a 93-80 lead in the fourth quarter. Tatum started the fourth quarter with a great driving layup for a three-point play, and Jrue Holiday's triple gave the Celtics a 99-82 lead, their largest lead at the time. Brown's jumper with 7:33 left gave Boston an 18-point lead, and Tatum's 3-pointer with less than five minutes left gave the Celtics an 18-point lead. Tatum overcame a rough start (he went just 2-of-8 in the first half) and finished the game with 23 points, six rebounds and five assists on 9-of-20 shooting. For Boston, Holiday had 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and 10 assists, and Derrick White added 23 points. But no one had a better night than Brown. He ended the night with a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with less than two minutes remaining. He heard MVP chants from the crowd all night. The Pacers played the fourth quarter without Tyrese Haliburton, who had 10 points and eight assists in 28 minutes before leaving the game late in the third quarter with soreness in his left foot. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported during the game that Haliburton was dealing with a hamstring issue and his condition will be critical for the Pacers going forward. The series now moves to Indiana, where the Pacers have a perfect 6-0 record this postseason. But the Celtics are 4-0 in the playoffs, so something should happen in Game 3 on Saturday night.
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