Celtics 119, Pacers 104: Jaylen Brown, Pascal Siakam go head-to-head at TD Garden

The Celtics returned home to beat the Indiana Pacers 119-104 Wednesday night at TD Garden and exact revenge from last week's lost to Indy on the road.

Jaylen Brown finish with 30 points on 11-of-22 from the field, to go along with 10 rebounds and five assists after being listed as probable with some hamstring soreness prior to tip-off. He picked up where he left off just days from receiving his fifth All-Star nod and first as a starter. Brown sat out the last time these two teams met where the C's suffered a 98-96 loss and Joe Mazzulla went viral for his 44-second "illegal screen" postgame presser.

Neemias Queta added 17 points, nine rebounds, while Sam Hauser also scored 17 points on 5-of-7 from 3-point range making it his fourth consecutive game of scoring 15 points or more.

"Sam has been great," Brown told reporters. "Sam has developed as a basketball player. He's had a couple of plays this year where he's run off the line, put the ball on the ground, and get to a mid-range or sneak a layup in. So we just got to keep encouraging that."

Derrick White chipped in 13 points, five assists for the Celtics -- who bounced back from a one-point loss to the Pistons Monday and improved to 27-16 for the season.

Pascal Siakam had a game-high 32 points and 10 rebounds, while Jarace Walker notched 19 points off the bench for the Pacers -- who lost their third straight and dropped to 10-35 on the year.

The Celtics used a 15-0 run in the second quarter to take a 57-34 advantage (their largest of the night) with 3:22 left in the half and Brown also scored 17 points in the period.

Indiana went on a 16-4 spurt to cut the deficit to nine with 1:42 left in the third frame and Brown on the bench, but that would be the closest that'd get the rest of the way as the C's took a 91-78 lead into the fourth.

The Celtics head back out on the road to face the Brooklyn Nets (12-30) Friday night at the Barclays Center.

Game Notes:

Boston hit 48% of their shot attempts from the field, including going 12-of-31 (39%) from behind the arc while the Pacers connected on 39% from the floor and 12-of-45 (27%) from deep. The Celtics won the rebound battle 54-42 and outscored the visiting team in the paint 48-40. Indiana had 31 assists on 37 baskets and committed 14 turnovers while the C's dished out 24 dimes on 42 made shots and turned the ball over 16 times.

 

Joel Pavón

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Photo used courtesy of The Associated Press