BOSTON – Jaylen Brown scored a season-high 44 points, including six 3-pointers, and the Boston Celtics erased a two-game deficit with a 142-105 win over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.

Jayson Tatum had 22 points and 13 rebounds for Boston, which made 23 three-pointers and never trailed. Brown also had four steals alongside Larry Bird (five times) and Antoine Walker, making him the only Celtics with at least 44 points and four steals in a game.

Payton Pritchard finished the game with 18 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.

The Pacers have lost two straight since posting their season-best five-game winning streak.

Tyrese Haliburton had 19 points and nine assists, Bennedict Mathurin had 18 points and Pascal Siakam added 14 points and nine rebounds.

Takeaways

Pacers: Unsurprisingly, Indiana struggled to find its footing with Obi Toppin sitting with a left ankle sprain and Andrew Nembhard also sidelined with left knee tendonitis.

Celtics: With a dominant performance on both ends of the floor, they avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season. Boston had nine steals and limited Indiana to 28% from distance. The Celtics were without starters Kristaps Porzingis (sprained left ankle) and Jrue Holiday, who missed his second straight game with a shoulder injury.

Key moment

Al Horford hit consecutive 3-pointers to punctuate the Celtics’ 13-0 run late in the second quarter that gave them a 67-35 lead. Boston increased its cushion to as many as 38 in the fourth quarter.

Key statistics

This was Brown’s 11th career game with 40 or more points.

Next

Boston and Indiana meet again on Sunday in their final duel of the season.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba