The final six minutes of a game isn’t the best time to have your offense fall apart.
It’s also not the best time to have the top player on the opposing team catch fire.
Boston learned both of those lessons Wednesday night during a 102-91 loss to Indiana.
The Celtics went 2-for-8 during the final six-plus minutes of the game. Even worse, they committed seven turnovers during that timeframe, which was more than they committed during any of the first three quarters individually.
Meanwhile, at the other end, Paul George took over. He looked every bit the part of a two-time All-Star while leading his team to victory.
George scored six points, all on silky-smooth jumpers, during the final six-plus minutes of the game. But his highlight play came on a dish from the left corner of the court.
As he stood in front of his own bench, he whipped a laser of a bounce pass to a cutting Ian Mahinmi, who put home an easy layup. It was a “wow” play that put an exclamation point on Indiana’s win.
That bucket gave the Pacers an 11-point lead with 4:46 to go. Boston scored just four points the rest of the way before falling to George and his Pacers for the second time in seven days.
Brad Stevens on Tuesday called Evan Turner a “Jack of all trades.” We here at Celtics.com prefer “Swiss Army knife.”
Turner is exactly that for Boston – a versatile player who offers multiple skills that can be utilized in a variety of ways.
Wednesday night against Indiana, those skills were on full display when Turner was called upon for a spot-start at shooting guard in place of the injured Avery Bradley.
Turner was stellar all night long, playing with poise, patience and efficiency. One night after scoring 16 points against Milwaukee, he had notched 16 less just 73 seconds into the second half. He finished with a team-high 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting.
The swingman also got into the action in multiple other categories for the second night in a row. He contributed three boards, three assists, two blocks and a steal during his nearly 33 minutes of action.
Brad Stevens’ blunt statement on why he gave rookies R.J. Hunter and Terry Rozier more than 16 minutes of playing time Wednesday night.
