by By Kyle Hightower, AP
BOSTON – Kyrie Irving (Standing Rock Sioux) and Marcus Morris each scored 20 points, and the Boston Celtics rallied in the second half to beat the Indiana Pacers, 84-74, on Sunday in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
Jayson Tatum finished with 15 points. Al Horford added 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Gordon Hayward had 10 points. It was the first playoff game since 2017 for Irving and Hayward after each missed last year’s postseason with injuries.
“I just try to be aggressive on the ball, be in the right spots,” Irving said. “I just really want to be aggressive and really be the head of the snake.”
Game 2 is Wednesday night in Boston.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens and Pacers coach Nate McMillan both said before the series that the more physical team would have the edge.
After a shaky start, it turned out to be Boston.
Boston opened the third quarter with a 22-3 run to take a 60-48 lead. The Pacers didn’t get their first field goal of the second half until Joseph dropped in a layup with 3:38 left in the third. They finished the quarter 2 for 19 from the field.
“I thought we kind of lost our way in that third quarter,” McMillan said. “They got the momentum and really never let that go.”
Likewise, Stevens said his team found something in that quarter.
“They missed some shots, but we were really connected,” he said. “We were really playing hard. We were really flying around.”
