Celtics at Pacers
The Boston Celtics look to continue their torrid outside shooting when they open a five-game road trip Saturday against the Indiana Pacers. Boston knocked down a franchise-record 24 3-pointers in Thursday's 117-113 win over previously unbeaten Milwaukee.
The Celtics have won four straight games and they had bettered their previous 3-pointer record of 19 before the third quarter had ended against the Bucks. "We got a lot of open looks," Boston small forward Gordon Hayward told reporters. "We were taking what they were giving us. Those are big shots for us. We have to be able to hit those." Indiana struggled with lowly Chicago on Friday but recovered from an 18-point, first-half deficit to record a 107-105 victory - its fourth win in five games. "You're going to have games like this," Pacers coach Nate McMillan told reporters. "I thought we were still at the hotel in the first half and were still asleep. ... In the second half, we had to fight and score and make stops and do the things we had to do to win the game."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBA TV, NBCS Boston, FS Indiana
ABOUT THE CELTICS (6-2): The point total against Milwaukee was Boston's highest of the season, and point guard Kyrie Irving approved of the solid ball movement. "We're having fun," Irving, who made six 3-pointers, told reporters. "I don't like to say that we're playing care-free, but I think that we're making the decisions that we want and we're playing off one another. Before, we were not necessarily being aggressive in reading and reacting, but now we're just playing off one another and reading and reacting." Forward Marcus Morris, who made five 3-pointers, had a simple answer for Boston's success from long range against Milwaukee: "We were open, so we let them have it."
ABOUT THE PACERS (6-3): Point guard Darren Collison drained the tiebreaking jumper with 17.8 seconds left against the Bulls while scoring 14 points for his fifth double-digit effort of the campaign. "He's knocking down his shots," McMillan said of Collison. "He's been really good in the pick-and-roll. When they're giving him single coverage, he's able to knock down that shot. When they are double-teaming, he's making the pass." Shooting guard Victor Oladipo matched his season best of 25 points and collected 14 rebounds, the latter one shy of his career high.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The teams split last season's four meetings.
2. Indiana C Myles Turner matched his career high of six blocked shots against Chicago while scoring a season-best 18 points.
3. Boston SG Jaylen Brown (foot) could miss his second straight game.