BOSTON – If you haven’t heard, Paul George is back. There weren’t any high-flying acrobatics that he has flashed throughout the young season, but he was relentless in his attempt to bury the Celtics from 20 feet out. It worked pretty well, as his game-high 26 points kept the Celtics at bay from the second quarter on. The Pacers held on for a 102-91 win at the Garden. The Garden Report's Jared Weiss was joined by WEEI's Sam Packard to break down the action. They also watched an awkward jumbotron proposal at the Garden and wondered if the Celtics will ever get hot from three.
Some more notes from the game:
- A brave soldier faced the ultimate pressure when he proposed to his girlfriend on the jumbotron. After the longest pause of both their lives, she kind of said yes. Lesson to everyone at home: Only propose in public if you are 100 percent sure of the outcome.
- Evan Turner is still hot. He went 7-for-10 through three quarters and finished with a team-high 20 points, hitting a shot from nearly every spatial zone inside 15 feet. But the Celtics still can’t shoot from deep. They went 4-for-24 (16.7 percent) from beyond the arc.
- XYZ: James Young and Tyler Zeller are completely out of the rotation. No surprise for Young, but Zeller seemed like a matchup fit for a few minutes at the five in this game. But he is nowhere to be found.
- Jae Crowder was in foul trouble all night. Covering Paul George, committing an offensive foul and reaching from the weak side help on a driver will do that to you. But he still played heavy minutes and contributed a game-high 5 steals.
- Jordan Hill looked like an extra from the walking dead in the first half. But he came alive later in the game, with some dazzling post moves and a game-high +19. Marcus Smart had a game-worst -20 in 21:28 off the bench. He did, however, get to the line a game-high 8 times.
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The Garden Report is Hosted and Executive Produced by Jared Weiss for CLNS Radio & Produced by Kyle George for CLNS Radio.