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Celtics hold off Pacers

Mar 15, 2015 - 4:16 AM Indianapolis, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Tyler Zeller had 18 points and seven rebounds as the Boston Celtics held off the surging Indiana Pacers 93-89 on Saturday night.

Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder and Brandon Bass netted 16 points apiece for Boston, which has won four in a row and six of its last seven games.

"Our guards were great," said Celtics coach Brad Stevens. "I thought our bigs did a really good job of handling those pick and rolls in the middle, which were tough."

George Hill posted 30 points, eight assists and five boards for Indiana, which had its seven-game winning streak snapped.

"I don't know if fatigue was an issue, just one of those games where a lot of things were going their way," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said.

The Celtics never trailed in the second half, although the Pacers got close on several occasions.

Boston was up 45-37 at the break, but Hill scored the final six points of an 11-4 run to begin the third, including a driving layup to cap it and claw Indiana within 49-48.

The Celtics, however, netted the next five points to go up six. A Rodney Stuckey 3-pointer cut the gap to 59-56 at the 4:03 mark, but Boston used an 8-2 spurt to create breathing room again. Bass sunk a pair of foul shots to finish if off for a 67-58 margin.

Boston, which held a 20-18 edge following a quarter of play, was up 67-60 going into the fourth, where it kept at least a two-possession advantage until the waning moments.

A Stuckey triple trimmed the margin to 91-89 with 5.8 ticks on the clock, but Bass hit two free throws at the other end to seal the outcome.

Game Notes

Boston snapped a seven-game road losing streak to the Pacers ... Indiana is 13-3 since Feb. 1 ... The Pacers' winning stretch was their longest in 17 months ... The Celtics recorded 19 points off 17 Indiana turnovers and 28 assists on 35 made field goals.