The Boston Celtics hosted the Indiana Pacers on Friday, December 27, the first of two games at TD Garden, Boston. Coach Rick Carlisle and the Indiana Pacers come to Boston with five injured players, including Isaiah Jackson, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith and Obi Toppin, all of whom were listed as unavailable before the start. Kristaps Porzingis (ankle) and Jrue Holiday (shoulder) are both out for Boston. With Holiday unavailable, Sam Hauser moved into the C’s starting lineup. Hauser’s start is notable as he has been in and out of the starting lineup with his own back injuries and has struggled with form, going scoreless in three of his last four games.

Jayson Tatum started the game strong and physically outplayed Bennedict Mathurin, who had a strong post finish to make it 1-0. Mathurin got going early for Indy, moving his team ahead with two of his team’s first four throws. Jaylen Brown was perfect to start the game in this game as he went three for three with two threes. Derrick White also got in on the action as Indy got off of him and hit his second basket and second three-pointer, giving Boston an early 24-13 lead.

Boston continued to pile up points behind a crossover stepback from Jaylen Brown with two and a Jordan Walsh with three as Boston extended its early lead to 12 points. Brown continued to shine with another three-pointer and a two-handed steal-and-breakaway dunk to score his fifteenth point of the first quarter on a perfect 6/6 mark. The Indiana Pacers came into this game on the second night of back-to-back games, and it was apparent early on that Boston was the hungrier team and got to the loose balls first. The Celtics led 39-22 after the first quarter.

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Boston started the second quarter very slowly, going scoreless in the first three minutes and turning the ball over several times. Luckily for the Celtics, Indy wasn’t much better, as only one three-point basket was scored in the period. The crowd really woke up 6 minutes into the game when JB drove past two fullbacks and dropped the hammer on an outstretched Myles Turner. Not to be outdone, Brown then stole the ball again at midcourt, resulting in a contest-worthy dunk windmill jam in which no Pacer player was within fifty feet of the basket.

Jayson Tatum then returned to the game after a nice break and hit his first shot, a corner three-pointer. Al Horford then added his own three-pointer as Boston took a 20-point lead 2 minutes, 30 seconds into the first half. The first half ended 67-42 with Boston in complete control led by Jayson Tatum (10 points, 10 points) and Jaylen Brown (23 points, 3/5 from three).

Following the Christmas Day disaster, Al Horford called the postgame “inconsistent effort” following the brutal loss to conference rival Philadelphia 76ers. Boston wanted to get back into shape before embarking on a four-game road trip to the West Coast in early January. The third quarter proved to be just the test, as Boston continued to exploit Indiana’s lack of perimeter size, peppering the Pacers with crisp passes and good pace en route to a massive 31-point lead with five minutes left in the third quarter.

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Indiana came to Boston having played 4 games in 6 nights and towards the end of the third quarter fatigue began to show as Indy was one step behind and Boston would reach the penalty bonus with four and a half minutes left in the quarter. To Indiana’s credit, they didn’t let their lead grow any further, as the quarter ended 103-78 with Boston up by 25 points.

JB scored his fortieth point of the game, his highest of the season, and stunned with eleven minutes left in the game. Finally, Joe Mazzulla replaced Brown to a standing ovation and a 44-point night, going 6-11 from three games for an outstanding 66 percent. Rick Carlisle would make his way to the bench around the 8 minute mark and test out his younger players against Boston. Payton Pritchard would add 18 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds; Jayson Tatum had a double-double night with 22 points and 13 rebounds; Al Horford contributed 13 points while Derrick White added 9 points and 6 assists.

Drew Peterson, Jordan Walsh and Jaden Springer all needed significant minutes for Boston to close out the game. The Celtics, now just a few games ahead of the third-place New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference, needed a comfortable win, which they got tonight thanks to a well-rounded team performance. Boston will next face the Pacers at home on Sunday, December 29th at 6 p.m.