The Celtics dropped their third consecutive game Wednesday night as they fell to the Pacers, 117-112. The Celtics' extended slump continued for most of the game Wednesday night as they were held to just 43 first-half points and found themselves trailing by 28 at halftime.
The Celtics were booed off the court at the end of the first half, and understandably so. They totaled 11 turnovers, just eight assists and shot 34% from the field, as they failed to score 50 first-half points for the second consecutive game.
Interim head coach Joe Mazzulla said postgame, "I don't know why we would come out in the first half like that, but we did. We had a choice to make and we made a choice to be better. We have to find a way to not have that anymore".
The Celtics would respond well in the second half, outscoring the Pacers 69-46, behind 28 second-half points from Jayson Tatum, but the 30-point hole was too deep for Boston to crawl out of. Here are three takeaways as the Celtics dropped the first of three meetings with the Pacers this season…
Generating good looks
Mazzulla has preached throughout this Celtics slump that the team is getting good looks and shots just haven't been falling. Boston had plenty of high-percentage looks on Wednesday but weren't able to finish.
The Celtics took 57 shots in the paint on Wednesday night, 34 of them in the restricted area. Fifty of Boston's 112 points (44%) came in the paint, with another 21 (18%) coming from the free-throw line.
Heading into Wednesday night, the Celtics were shooting 29.6% from three in their last three games. The Celtics have a tendency to live and die by the three ball, but they did a good job of attacking on Wednesday night.
Boston shot 17-of-37 (45.9%) in the restricted area, with a lot of bounces not going their way. The league average inside the restricted area is 66.2%. If the Celtics keep attacking, good things should happen.
Robert Williams
Williams had his best game since returning Wednesday night. He played 22 minutes and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, seven of which were on the offensive glass.
Williams changed the game for the Celtics on the boards, while also adding a block and a steal.
Mazzulla said pregame Wednesday that managing WIlliams' minutes is still a game-by-game thing, but it is reassuring to see Williams look like his old self on Wednesday.
Tatum noted postgame that it seems like Williams is getting more and more comfortable with each game, and that was on display Wednesday night.
C's finds themselves a bit in the second half
The Celtics offense found themselves a little bit in the second half. Boston shot 23-of-54 (42.6%) from the field in the second half and 10-of-26 (38.5%) from deep, both significantly better than the first half.
Boston totaled 18 assists in the second half and turned the ball over just five times. The Celtics did a better job getting to the line in the second half as 15 of their 25 free throws came in the second half.
They also did a better job defensively, forcing 11 turnovers in the second half and out-rebounding Indiana 33-20.
