INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tyler Zeller scored 18 points, three other Celtics added 16 and Boston snapped the Indiana Pacers’ seven-game winning streak with a 93-89 victory Saturday night.
The Celtics have won four straight and moved into a tie for ninth place in the Eastern Conference, a half-game behind Charlotte for the final playoff spot. Indiana is seventh.
George Hill scored a season-high 30 points for Indiana. C.J. Miles had 13.
Boston took control with a 17-4 run that started late in the first quarter and ended midway through the second with a 32-20 lead.
The Pacers spent the rest of the night playing catch-up. They finally closed to 91-89 on Rodney Stuckey’s 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds left, but Brandon Bass made two free throws to seal it.
The victory also ended Boston’s three-game losing streak in Indy.
The Pacers looked rusty, tired or both most of the night even though it was Boston playing the second game of a back-to-back.
But in the second half, the Pacers rallied.
After Indiana trailed 45-37 at halftime, Hill scored six straight points to cap an 11-4 run that got the Pacers within one.
Boston responded by pushing the lead back to 54-48, closing the third quarter on an 8-4 spurt to make it 67-60 and taking a 77-66 lead early in the fourth on Marcus Smart’s 3.
Indiana got within four on C.J. Watson’s 3 with 4:41 to go, but couldn’t any closer until Stuckey’s 3 in the closing seconds.
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