The Indiana Pacers will try to find their scoring touch and end a six-game losing streak when they take on the Boston Celtics on Friday night in Indianapolis.
The Pacers haven’t won a game since Dec. 8, leaving coach Rick Carlisle one win shy of 1,000 in his NBA career. Indiana ranks last among NBA teams in scoring (109.2), field goal percentage (42.9) and 3-point percentage (32.1).
“We all have to ask ourselves what we can do and we all have to come wanting to change and win,” Indiana forward Pascal Siakam said. “We’ve had good runs, but it’s not enough.”
I think the Pacers fans deserve it. We all have to do better. And I’m going to keep trying, trying to give my best, doing everything possible for us to win. …We have to move forward. We have to keep fighting. We have a lot to fight for. We just have to find that joy, we have to find that togetherness to get through this. That’s the only way.
The teams met in Boston on Monday, when the Celtics rallied for a 103-95 victory. The Pacers had a 20-point lead early in the third quarter when Boston coach Joe Mazzulla pulled all of his starters and sent his reserves into the game.
He proved to be the spark the Celtics needed as Boston went on a 19-5 run to cut Indiana’s lead to six points before the starters returned to the court and closed out the victory.
“That’s part of the depth we have,” Mazzulla said. “I mean, 82 games is a long time. The season is long. The level at which we have to play, the effort at which we have to play, it’s tough. It’s difficult, and we need everyone to be able to do it. So there have been stretches of the season where some players have done that for us.”
The Celtics outscored the Pacers 60-34 in the second half and extended their winning streak to three games.
Jaylen Brown scored 31 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two blocks in the victory. He has scored at least 30 points in each of his last seven games.
“I think this has been my favorite season so far, having the opportunity to lead a group,” Brown said. “A group of guys that… some of us have championship experience, but we have five or six new guys that haven’t really played in the NBA. And now we see ourselves as one of the best teams in the league. And that’s a credit to our coaching staff and our leadership, that we’ve made those guys feel comfortable.”
Indiana is coming off a 111-94 home loss to Milwaukee on Tuesday. TJ McConnell scored a team-high 16 points in the loss. He did not play in Monday’s loss in Boston due to discomfort in his left knee.
“I think sometimes the frustrating thing is, obviously we have six wins, but in some of the losses we haven’t played to our full potential,” McConnell said. “We haven’t fought like we do. If we lose a game, but we fight until the end, I think many of us can accept it. We have to be more consistent.”
–Field level media
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