Pacers vs. Celtics Preview and Game Thread

Mar 24, 2023 - 10:00 PM

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The Indiana Pacers (33-40) remain on the road on Friday night when they take on the Boston Celtics (50-23) at TD Garden.

The Pacers roll into the garden following an impressive close in Toronto with Andrew Nembhard leading the way, mitigating the continued absence of Tyrese Haliburton. The challenge is ramped up against the dynamic Celtics lineup, as the title contenders try to right the ship after some recent bad losses. However, the C’s have won 5 of their last 7 games. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown continue to make things go in Boston, with Tatum averaging over 30 points and Brown over 26 points. That’s a nice one-two threat every night.

Haliburton does remain questionable and has appeared to be moving around ok off the court. If Hali can’t go, rookie Bennedict Mathurin will likely stay in the starting lineup. The rook has been offensively efficient in the past two games after returning from a sprained ankle. He scored 15 points on 5 FGAs in Toronto and 18 points on 10 shots in Charlotte, making all four 3-point attempts in the two games.

This is the third and final game of the season series with the road team winning the first two games earlier in the year.

DraftKings Odds: Celtics -11.5, O/U 234 (latest DraftKings odds here)

When: 7:00 p.m. ET

Where: TD Garden, Boston, MA

TV: Bally Sports Indiana/Bally Sports + app

Radio: 93.5 FM/107.5 FM

Projected Starting Lineups:

Pacers: Andrew Nembhard, Buddy Hield, Bennedict Mathurin, Aaron Nesmith, Myles Turner

Celtics: Marcus Smart, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford

Injuries

IND: Chris Duarte - questionable (sore ankle), Tyrese Haliburton - questionable (ankle sprain), Kendall Brown - out (right tibia stress fracture)

BOS: Danilo Gallinari - out (ACL surgery), Payon Pritchard - questionable (heel)

Please share your thoughts and observations on the game in the comments.