Thomas, Celtics stop slide, pip Pacers
Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (13) pressures Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4). AP
BOSTON – Isaiah Thomas scored 28 points, Jae Crowder matched his career high with 25 and the Boston Celtics snapped a four-game losing streak with a 103-94 win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday (Thursday Manila time).
Amir Johnson had a season-high 18 rebounds and scored 14 points for the Celtics, who beat the Pacers for the first time this season after losing the first two meetings.
Paul George led Indiana 23 points. George Hill had 13 and Monta Ellis 12 for the Pacers, who wore their old-fashioned Hickory High School uniforms from the movie “Hoosiers.”
Boston closed with a 12-0 run over the final 1:46.
The Pacers led 94-91 with just more than 2 minutes to play before they turned the ball over on consecutive possessions, leading to a pair of breakaway dunks by Boston. The first was by Johnson and the second by Marcus Smart, giving the Celtics the lead with 1:32 to play.
With the Celtics clinging to a one-point lead, George stole an inbounds pass, but Crowder stole the ball back from him on the other end and went in for an uncontested dunk that gave Boston a 97-94 edge.
After George missed a 3-point attempt, Thomas scored in the lane to push Boston’s lead to 99-94 with 32 seconds to play.
Earlier in the quarter, Indiana went on an 8-0 run over 3 1/2 minutes to grab the lead for the first time since early in the game. Hill’s basket in the lane put the Pacers up 84-82.
George scored the Pacers’ first 14 points of the third and had 17 in the period, helping them slice an eight-point halftime deficit to 78-76 entering the fourth. He went 5 for 7 from the floor – with two 3-pointers – after missing six of seven in the opening half.
The Celtics built a 40-28 advantage early in the second, but the Pacers twice trimmed it to one before Boston went into halftime with a 57-49 lead.
