It felt like the Celtics rediscovered their defense during Friday night's win over the Knicks.
Then it felt like it disappeared again during the first quarter Saturday night, when Boston allowed the Pacers to score 31 points on 56.5 percent shooting.
Fortunately for the C's, it felt like they found it again over the final three quarters of Saturday's matchup.
The fivesome of Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart, James Young, Kelly Olynyk and Amir Johnson helped to provide a spark at that end of the court during the middle portions of the second period. That group joined together at the 9:50 mark, with Boston trailing 35-27. Indiana went on to score only 10 more points over the remainder of the first half as the C's pulled ahead 48-45.
Boston maintained its strong defensive play through the final buzzer, as the Pacers finished the game having made only 41.9 percent of their field goals. Indiana shot 36.5 percent from the field during the final three quarters of the game. The team's strong defense keyed its ability to pull out a 105-99 victory on a night in which Isaiah Thomas, its leading scorer, struggled for the majority of the night.
Now the Celtics have put together two consecutive strong performances at the defensive end of the court. It didn't appear to be heading in that direction early Saturday night, but that all changed when Stevens' unique fivesome found a defensive groove during the final 10 minutes of the second quarter.
Isaiah Thomas just didn't have it Saturday night. That is, until the money quarter arrived.
Thomas struggled mightily during the first three quarters of Boston's 105-99 win over Indiana. He could not find his touch around the basket and shot 1-for-7 from the field during those periods while totaling only 11 points.
Following the game, Thomas explained that his left middle finger Was injured and that he “couldn't feel the ball” all game, which resulted in his poor shooting. But the interesting thing is, he didn't stop shooting.
Thomas scored 12 points during the fourth quarter alone while hitting three of his six field goals and all six of his free throws. His 12 points during the frame were seven more than any other Celtic, and that was a big difference during a six-point victory.
So while Thomas may have been cold through the first 36 minutes of this game, he showed everyone that when the game is on the line, he'll be there to close it out.
Kelly Olynyk on the work he put in before returning to the lineup from offseason shoulder surgery.
