Boston Celtics: Oladipo Hits Last Second Three-Pointer to Break 4-Game Winning Streak; 3 Takeaways

The Boston Celtics four-game winning streak was snapped Saturday night, as they lost to the Indiana Pacers, 102-101, on a last-second shot from Victor Oladipo.

Everything was going according to the Boston Celtics script Saturday night, until Kyrie Irving missed an easy layup (when does that ever happen?!) in the final seconds to seal the game, and Victor Oladipo canned a pull-up three-pointer with three seconds left to lift the Indiana Pacers over the Celtics, 102-101.

Irving (18 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) hit two clutch three-pointers in the final 64 seconds, but couldn’t make a wide open lefty layup to put Boston ahead four after another brilliant Brad Stevens after timeout play call.

With 1:04 left, Irving drilled a tough corner three to put the Celtics ahead, 98-85. After Oladipo responded with a step back jumper in Irving’s face, Irving answered with a three over Oladipo, following a fake pass to Horford, to put Boston ahead, 101-97, with 37 seconds remaining.

On the next Pacers possession, Oladipo got tripped ( I guess?) on his way to the hoop and drilled both free throws to make it a two-point game before a Boston timeout and Irving’s missed layup.

The loss ended a four-game win streak for the Celtics and opened up a five-game road trip in the next nine days. Boston drops to 6-3, while Indiana improves to 7-3 with the win.

Oladipo led all scorers with 24 points and also pulled down 12 rebounds. Marcus Morris led the Celtics with 23 points, largely carrying a lifeless Boston offense through three quarters. He drilled 4-of-6 three-pointers and added 6 rebounds in 32 minutes.

The Celtics jumped out to a 28-18 lead after one quarter, but let the Pacers erase the deficit in the second quarter and tie it half, 45-45, with sloppy ball-handling and listless ball and player movement.

The great equalizers–defense and three-point shooting–also kept Boston in a tight game despite playing far from their best. Boston held Indiana to 41 percent shooting for the game and made 19 three-pointers, a game after setting a franchise record for made threes.