Jaylen Brown, Resilient Celtics Take Game 1 in Overtime

Capitalizing on their opponents' critical turnovers and a game-tying three by Jaylen Brown that forced overtime, the Boston Celtics drew first blood in the Eastern Conference Finals, beating the Indiana Pacers 133-128 to grab a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.

The Indiana Pacers led by three when Andrew Nembhard drained a 19-foot jump shot, but his inbound pass bounced off Pascal Siakam's fingers before rolling out of bounce, giving Boston new life with ten seconds left in regulation. The turnover, Indiana's second on back-to-back possessions, set up a baseline play for the Celtics, which turned out to be a corner-3 for Jaylen Brown, which he buried in the corner.

"Jrue (Holiday) made a good pass. D-White made a good screen," Brown said after the win. "And the rest was history."

- Jaylen Brown on his game-tying three

Jayson Tatum scored 36 points, including ten of the Celtics' 16 points in overtime, as Boston finished the night outscoring Indiana 16-8. Jrue Holiday added 28 points, eight assists, and three steals, and Brown finished with 26 points.

The Celtics opened the night on a 12-0 run before the Pacers evened the score at 64 by halftime. Myles Turner attacked the paint early and often, scoring 18 of his 23 points in the first half; Tyrese Haliburton finished with a team-high 25 points and ten assists but lost the ball before Nembhard's inbound play. Pascal Siakam also finished with a double-double (24 points, 12 rebounds), but the Celtics' defense coerced the Pacers to committing 21 turnovers.

Boston also made 24-of-30 free throws in contrast to Indiana's 9-of-10. Still, the Pacers, who were essentially one intentional foul away (twice) from sealing a three-point game and an opportunity to grab an early 1-0 lead, let the game slip through their fingertips.

"It's unfortunate we did so many good things in this game that it came down to a couple of mistakes at the end, but it's the NBA Playoffs," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after the loss. "We gotta learn from it, and we gotta bounce back."

The Celtics will host Game 2 at TD Garden on Thursday.

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