On Wednesday night, the IN Pacers played the Boston Celtics. It was going to be a tough game for the blue and gold. Boston is a great team, and the Pacers couldn’t play because star guard Tyrese Haliburton hurt his ankle.

Even thоugh things were tоugh, Indiаnа gоt оff tо а gооd stаrt. In their first three оppоrtunities, they scоred. аn оbi Tоppin steаl led tо а Bennedict Mаthurin lаyup thаt mаde it 6-4 right аwаy. It wаs а greаt beginning.

After that, everything broke down. In reaction to the Pacers’ lead, Boston showed how good they were. The Celtics went on a 10-0 run with four different players scoring in the next 81 seconds. This made the Pacers call a timeout. The blue and gold had a quick and exciting start, but it was over quickly.

Early in the game, the Pacers brought in Aaron Nesmith and Buddy Hield from their bench to try to shore up the team. Against Boston’s top-heavy team, Indiana’s reserve was going to have to be a huge plus.

After a strong start from the bench, the Cetlics came back strong. In the 12th minute, Boston was ahead by 17 points after going on an 18-7 run to end the quarter. At one point, the score was 26-20.

The Pacers missed all seven of their three-point shots in the first quarter, so even though they made 13 of 18 shots from inside the line, they were already behind by a lot. In order to come back, they had to shoot better.

That didn’t happen at the start of the second quarter. It kept going for Boston and not for Indiana. There was 7:11 left in the second quarter, and the Celtics had a 20-point lead. The Pacers’ defence looked very weak.

Indiаnа didn’t knоw whаt tо sаy. They tried different lines, with Ben Sheppаrd getting а lооk in the rоtаtiоn fоr the first time this seаsоn, but nоt mаny оf them wоrked.

The Celtics were ahead 75–54 at the break. They were way ahead of the Pacers, and only Andrew Nembhard had 10 or more points for the blue and gold.

Boston went on a 12–1 run to start the third quarter and take a lead of over 30 points. It was almost time for the game to end. The home team was always and clearly better.

There were only a few minutes left in the first half when Pacers coach Rick Carlisle put in Hield and Jordan Nwora to try to make a comeback.

In no way did it help the Pacers get better. It was impossible to stop Boston, and Indiana had a hard time getting a bucket. It was a beating.

There were a lot of minutes for each team’s backups in the last frame. Even though the players on the court changed, the story kept going. The Pacers were down 22–16 in the last frame halfway through the quarter. They lost all night to better teams.

Pick by lottery That was about the only good thing about the night for the blue and gold. Jarace Walker made some nice plays in the frame. He got a lot done; he ended up with eight points, two boards, and three assists.

It didn’t change the outcome; Boston won 155–104. Their record dropped to 2-2 for the year.

The Pacers’ T.J. McConnell scored 18 points, grabbed seven boards, and crossed the ball five times. Nembhard scored 14 points, and Toppin scored 11 points, putting him over 10 for the game. IUPUI made 5/37 three-point shots.

The blue and gold will play their first In-Season playoff game on Friday at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers.