C's Win 4th in a Row

January 28, 2012

The two-game sweep of Orlando was like an adventure-filled holiday, designed for the Celtics as a break from their previous misery.

Last night was different. Indiana represented their chance for serious follow-up — something the C's hadn't previously demonstrated this season.

Though the Pacers already had two easy wins over the Celtics to their credit this season, the opponent was a changed team last night. The Celtics may have proven something to themselves, as well as the rest of the league, with their 94-87 win over the Pacers — their fourth straight, and their third straight over a playoff-quality team.

Paul Pierce, with a 14-point third quarter that easily ranked as his best of the early season, took over the offensive load with a near-triple-double, recording 28 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

The Celtics, not entirely accustomed to success just yet, gave up a 12-4 Indiana run over the first 3:17 of the third quarter, including six points from Granger. But Pierce, back in his customary groove, triggered an 11-0 C's run with a 3-pointer.

He buried another with 5:53 left for his 12th point of the quarter, 19th of the game and a 60-48 Celtics lead.

Pierce hit another trey — his fourth overall — before the quarter was finished, and the Celtics essentially matched points on their way to a 71-61 lead at the end of the quarter.

Pierce had just put together his strongest 12-minute stretch of the season with 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting and a steal.

The next step was building on that success, and with Pierce taking a well-deserved breather, the Celtics did exactly that. Kevin Garnett'sdesperation bank hook over Louis Amundson started a 10-2 Celtics run that included a reverse drive off the baseline from Sasha Pavlovic and E'Twaun Moore's steal and feed to Marquis Daniels on the end of the break for an 81-65 lead.

Daniels' hoop pushed the bench's efficiency up to 12-of-18 for the game, but that didn't mean Indiana was finished for the evening.

The Pacers ran off 10 straight points, capped by David West's dunk and a Roy Hibbert layup that cut the Celtics' lead to 81-75.

Mickael Pietrus bagged a trey, and after two Danny Granger free throws, Pierce slashed for a lefty drive, followed by a Garnett burst off the baseline for an 88-77 Celtics lead with 4:26 left.

This time Granger hit only the second of two, and after Pierce gave the ball up in a trap, Paul George dunked off the break and cut the lead to 88-80 with 3:04 left.

Moore, after helping sink the Magic with eight fourth-quarter points Thursday night, banked home his first shot last night from 22 feet in the midst of a 6-0 run over the last 2:11 of the first quarter for a 23-17 lead.

Chris Wilcox was big in that run and, with a dunk to open the second quarter, hit on his first four shots.

Marquis Daniels followed with a turnaround jumper, and the Celtics had their first 10-point lead at 27-17.

With only a Dahntay Jones drive to interject, the Celtics extended those two opening hoops into a 7-2 run for a 30-19 lead.

This was clearly a far different team from the one that was barely in the same building during two previous losses to the Pacers.

This time, in addition to not turning the ball over themselves, the C's had forced nine Indiana turnovers with four minutes left in the second quarter.

Both sides finished with a flourish when Pietrus' corner trey was answered by a West bomb at the buzzer that cut the Celtics' halftime edge to 42-34.