Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 36 points and added 12 rebounds as the Boston Celtics earned a 133-128 overtime victory against the visiting Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Tatum scored 10 points in overtime, including six straight that gave the top-seeded Celtics a 127-123 lead with 42.9 seconds to play.
Jrue Holiday added 28 points and Jaylen Brown finished with 26 points in the win. After Brown drained a corner 3-pointer that made it 117-117 with 6.1 to play in regulation, Tyrese Haliburton missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer and the game went to overtime.
Haliburton had 25 points and 10 assists, and Pascal Siakam finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Pacers. Myles Turner added 23 points in the loss.
Indiana made 9 of 10 free throws in the game. Boston was 24 for 30 from the free-throw line.
The Pacers committed 22 turnovers.
The Celtics scored the game’s first 12 points and led 34-31 after one quarter. Boston had a 47-37 lead after Holiday’s jump shot with 8:01 remaining in the second quarter. Indiana tied the score, 61-61, on Haliburton’s 3-pointer with 1:19 left in the half. It was 64-64 at halftime.
Turner led all scorers with 18 points in the first half.
Indiana had its first lead of the game after Haliburton’s layup broke a 64-64 tie with 11:25 remaining in the third quarter. The Pacers stretched their lead to five, but Boston regained control and led 87-75 after Tatum’s three-point play with 4:50 left in the third capped a 13-0 run.
The Pacers used a 9-0 spurt to pull within four points, 92-88, late in the third. Indiana trailed 94-93 entering the fourth after Haliburton banked in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third.