Indiana Pacers (0-1) at Boston Celtics (1-0)
Game Info: Thursday, May 23rd, 2024 at 8 p.m. EST (Spokane Memorial Arena)
Betting Odds: Celtics -8.5 (-110) - Over/Under (224.5)
Pick: Celtics -8.5 (-110)
The Indiana Pacers and the Boston Celtics will play the second game of their Eastern Conference Finals series here on Thursday night at TD Garden in Boston. Much like everybody expected the opening game of the series was an instant classic that went into overtime after a gametime shot at the death by Boston. The Boston Celtics would end up coming out on top of that game and they will now look for a second consecutive victory here on Thursday night to take a commanding two games to zero lead to Indianapolis for the following two games. Game number two of this series here on Thursday night should be yet another instant classic between the Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers, that could potentially go into overtime once again.
The Indiana Pacers fought hard in the opening game of the series on Tuesday night, but unfortunately, they came up just short after they simply had the victory locked up. That was before they allowed Jaylen Brown to hit a three-pointer with less than 10 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime and give Boston new life. Indiana will have to be much tougher on the defensive end of the court if they want to be successful throughout this series against the Boston Celtics. That is something they struggled with in both of their previous two rounds against the Milwaukee Bucks and the New York Knicks.
However, they were able to get away without scoring Milwaukee, New York, but they will not be able to on a consistent basis. It is going to come down to being able to get a couple of stops down the final stretch of the game if they want to pick up the victory here on Thursday night in the second game of the series. Tyrese Halliburton was electric in the opening game of the series and he will need to replicate that performance if Indiana wants to pick up the win against Boston. He will be the main factor in this game and throughout the rest of the series and his performance will determine the success of the Indiana Pacers.
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The Boston Celtics showed plenty of heart throughout their game one victory and they will look to replicate that performance here on Thursday night in game two as well. Despite jumping out to a big lead and relinquishing that lead late in the game, Boston was able to overcome the deficit and hit a game-tying three-pointer late in the contest. That three-pointer would help send the game to overtime where the Boston Celtics would take over the final five minutes, and come away with a close and competitive victory to open up the series at home.
Jayson Tatum was the main catalyst throughout the early part of the game and later on in the night Jaylen Brown took over to help lead Boston to the victory. Now both of them will look to put up similar performances throughout this game as the Celtics look to jump out to a commanding two game lead before heading to Indianapolis. However, Boston has had trouble with both of their previous game twos at home losing to both Miami and Cleveland and that is something they will look to avoid here on Thursday. This will be a very important game for the Celtics as another victory will allow them to control the pace of the series, and get the monkey off their back in terms of losing the second game at home, where they have been the best team in the league this season.
Betting trends to consider in this matchup:
- Boston is 0-2 in Game 2’s at home
- Indiana is 28-13 after a loss
- Indiana is 4-1 after losing a game in the playoffs
I expect another close and competitive game here on Thursday night in the second game of this eastern conference final series between the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics. Boston has lost both of their previous game twos throughout this postseason and I expect more of the same here in this one as I look for the Indiana Pacers to even up this series at one. As I look for Indiana to bounce back from a rough loss in the game of the series to the Boston Celtics on the road at TD Garden for the third time in the playoffs. This is a game easily going into overtime for the second consecutive contest in a row, but in the end I do look for Indiana to pull out the win.
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