Boston Celtics Offense Stays Hot Against Pacers

The Boston Celtics offense stayed hot as they defeated the Indiana Pacers

The Boston Celtics captured their second straight victory following the end of their streak. The Indiana Pacers were able to capture a first half lead, but the Celtics took over in the third quarter and never looked back. The Celtics improved their best record in the NBA, and are also starting to establish more confidence in their offense.

The defense did their job against the Pacers, and missing out on leading scorer Victor Oladipo made it too hard for the Pacers to score enough. That being said, the Celtics have put together two of their best offensive games of the season in their last two outings, and that is exactly what they needed to see after the way the offense looked on the winning streak.

The Celtics were streaky in this one, but they came together to shoot 56 percent overall and 40 percent from three. They were balanced, and once again the second unit was able to give them a scoring boost that was had not been there earlier this season.

Terry Rozier shot lights out, finishing 7-9 overall for 17 points, to go along with Al Horford scoring 21 and Kyrie Irving leading the way with 25 points. The Celtics did not need heroics from any individual, because their offense is starting to come together, taking pressure off individuals who had been making up for liabilities early on in the season, especially off the bench.

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Horford, Irving and Marcus Smart all tallied at least five assists, making it a lot easier to not get hurt from the loses of Jaylen Brown and Marcus Morris. The two of them have been vital on the offensive end, but the Celtics did not let their absence impact how their offense functioned.

The starters came through, and the depth came through, and the Celtics are going to grow into one of the most balanced teams in the NBA if they continue to get solid contributions across the board like this.

The Celtics have already proven that their defense can survive any injury, because they have dealt with them all so far. On offense, it felt a bit different. It has felt as though the offense was going to need all their players to have a chance to look their best, but their scoring depth had been on full display in these last two games.

We have always known that the Celtics were going to have the offensive talent on the starting unit, and for the bench to still be able to step up the way they did, despite two players being out of the lineup, is a great sign.

We cannot expect Rozier to stay this hot, but the balance the Celtics are getting on offense is a great sign right now. They are moving the ball and getting clean looks. There are still going to be questions about their ability to finish, but the depth they have put on display in the last two games has been unexpected, and could change what we can expect from this offense as a whole.

The Celtics have done their job in establishing that their defense is going to perform on a nightly basis, and is going to be a problem for any team they are playing. The offense still has a long ways to go, but this is the first time they have strung multiple strong offensive performances together, and it once again did not matter that they were shorthanded.

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The Celtics still have a lot of work to do, but we are really seeing the offensive upside of this team for the first time, and if they can score like this across the board on a regular basis, then they will soar up any offensive rankings in the NBA.

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