Kyrie Irving Drops 37 Points as Celtics Storm Back, Beat Pacers to Take 2-0 Lead

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The Boston Celtics are in full control of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series with the Indiana Pacers following Wednesday’s 99-91 victory in Game 2 at TD Garden.

The fourth-seeded Celtics defended home court and now lead 2-0, while the fifth-seeded Pacers will look for answers as the series heads to Indiana for the next two games.

Jayson Tatum (26 points) drilled a go-ahead three-pointer in the final minute and assisted on a Gordon Hayward basket on Boston’s ensuing possession to help his team overcome a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter. Kyrie Irving was the driving force in the comeback, though, and he finished with 37 points, seven assists, six rebounds and six made three-pointers.

Bojan Bogdanovic scored 23 for Indiana, but the visitors managed a mere 12 points in the fourth quarter and collapsed on offense.

Kyrie Can Only Provide False Hope for Celtics for So Long

First things first—Irving was brilliant and continued to add to a playoff legacy that already includes three trips to the NBA Finals and a Game 7-winning shot against arguably the best team in league history.

He was far too explosive for any Pacers guard and put the Celtics on his back with his lethal outside shooting, timely transition opportunities and willingness to facilitate when Indiana sent multiple defenders his way.

Irving is the type of star who can propel the Celtics on a deep playoff run simply by taking over in crunch time, much like he did in Wednesday’s contest.

However, he is also providing Boston false hope in a season that should be considered NBA Finals or bust after the team reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals without him and Hayward last year.

The first two games of this series were just as much about what Indiana is missing as what Boston has at its disposal. A healthy Victor Oladipo—who led the league in steals and was an All-Defensive selection in 2017-18—would be the one tasked with slowing Irving down with the game on the line.

Irving is still talented enough to put up numbers, but he would have to work much harder than he does against a backcourt of role players in Darren Collison, Wesley Matthews and Cory Joseph.

Oladipo is also the one who would bail the Pacers out of their ice-cold stretches on the road. Indiana was in full control of Game 2 after holding the Celtics to 16 points in the third quarter and building a double-digit lead only to score an ugly three points through the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter.

That simply cannot happen at the NBA level.

Another thing that cannot happen is holding a team to a mere 84 points and still losing by 10, which is exactly what the Pacers did in Game 1. They don’t have the go-to option to turn to in crunch time of a playoff game without Oladipo on the floor and have resembled a struggling college team instead of a professional outfit in two winnable road games.

The road is about to get much more difficult for the Celtics with some combination of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid standing in the way of their first Finals appearance since 2010.

Those are the types of playmakers who can match Irving bucket-for-bucket down the stretch and fully put away a vulnerable Celtics team that could very well be down 2-0 in their first-round series if the Pacers played even average offensive basketball.

Irving deserves all the credit he will receive for another incredible playoff performance, but Boston fans should temper expectations and hopes if they think a quick start against a lackluster and star-less Pacers team means their squad is ready to put its regular-season inconsistency behind it and reach the NBA Finals.

What’s Next?

The series shifts to Indiana for Friday’s Game 3 and Sunday’s Game 4.