The quarterfinals of the NBA In-Season Tournament start on Monday. The first game of the quarterfinals will be the (15-4) Boston Celtics on the road against the (10-8) Indiana Pacers. This is a match-up of teams with opposing approaches to the game.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Celtics are currently fourth in the NBA in points allowed per game. Boston is only giving up 107.4 points per game. Jayson Tatum and company also are not in a rush on offense. They are 23rd in pace.
The Pacers are 30th in points allowed. They are giving up 125.9 points per game. Indiana is first in pace in the NBA. Which helps with their offense. Usually a team that gives up the most points in the NBA is not a winning one. The Pacers are able to break the mold on that with their offense. They average 128.8 points per game which is the best in the NBA.
Keys to Victory for the Pacers
Run Pacer Run
The Indiana Pacers have truly lived up to their name this season as they set the pace in all of their games. The biggest key to this game for Indiana is to run as much as possible. They do not want to play against a set Boston defense. Usually transition points come off of stops but the Pacers should be trying to run on both makes and misses by Boston. If this game is played at a slower pace, the Celtics will win.
Go To The Basket
The Boston Celtics will most likely be without Kristaps Porzingis in this game. Porzingis is averaging 1.7 blocks per game. No one else on the Celtics is averaging more than 1.1 blocks per game. The Pacers have to take advantage of the lack of rim protection by attacking the basket.
Keys to Victory for the Celtics
What Can Brown Do For You?
Jalen Brown has to show up in a big way for the Celtics. He has been pretty good this season. Brown is averaging 21.8 points per game while shooting 44.9% from the floor and 34% from three point range. He has to be better than pretty good, he needs to be great as the Celtics may try to keep the ball out of Jayson Tatum’s hands.
The Bench
In the previous match-up between these two teams the Celtics won 155-104. The bench was very productive in that match-up as Payton Pritchard had 15 points on 6/10 from the floor. Sam Houser had 17 points on 5/7 from the floor. In a game that may be very high scoring, the Celtics will need points from players outside of Tatum, Brown, and Jrue Holiday.
Prediction
This should be a very good game of tactical adjustments as both teams try to impose their play style on the game. Great defense usually beats great offense, so the Celtics should win this game. Jayson Tatum may have a big time performance in this one as he takes advantage of the Pacers defense.
