The Pacers narrowly beat the Celtics in what ended up being a close game. The slim difference was Pascal Siakam’s game-winning bucket with 6.1 seconds left in the game. It gave the Pacers the 98-96 win over the C’s on Monday in Indiana.
It was clear C’s coach Joe Mazzulla wasn’t thrilled with the final couple possessions. His prompt news conference after the game featured him answering six different questions with two words: “Illegal screen.” It appeared he was talking about Siakam’s screen on Derrick White that freed Siakam up and allowed him to get the preferred matchup. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle spoke about what they drew up on the final play of the game.
“We were getting everybody out of the way and … it was make a play,” Carlisle told reporters in Indiana. “Figure out the right play. Figure out the right play and go make it. It wasn’t an easy shot. It took great footwork and his ability to do things at awkward angles. But he’s the kind of guy that makes shots like that look routine.”
The play originally began with Andrew Nembhard dribbling out most of the shot clock. The game was tied at 96 with roughly 28 seconds left. Siakam set the screen that toppled over the smaller White, who had to recover to guard Siakam. The lengthier Jordan Walsh was originally guarding Siakam at the start of the play. Eventually, Siakam was able to make a nice spin move and hit the bucket to give the Pacers the lead. Here’s a look at the play.
The Celtics have made their feelings known about the officials recently. Jaylen Brown was “irate” over how the C’s didn’t get any foul calls in their loss to the Spurs on Saturday. That resulted in Brown getting a $35,000 fine from the NBA for his comments about the referees. It was Mazzulla’s turn Monday.
The C’s ultimately fell just a few possessions short to the Pacers. They were also without Brown due to back spasms as he missed his third game of the season. The Celtics lost their latest clutch game, dropping their third game in the last four. It was a nice shot from Siakam at the end, but the C’s didn’t seem very happy with it.
“Just trying to get an open shot,” Siakam said. “It’s been kind of hard for me to operate with a lot of teams, a lot of helping. If I spin, they’re dealing with the spin. So trying to just have vision on everything that’s happening on the floor and trying to take the best shot possible.”
