The Indiana Pacers handed the reigning NBA Champion Boston Celtics their first loss of the season a 95-79 defeat on the road on the back end of a back-to-back for the Green. The Celtics were making their first road start of the season after opening with two home wins over Cleveland and Chicago.
It wasn’t all that good from the start as the Celtics (2-1) were down ten after one quarter, they cut the Indiana lead to sevenat halftime, 48-41. The Pacers (1-1) then used the second half to slowly pull away from Boston and cruise to a 16 point win for their first victory of the season.
The Pacers were led by Danny Granger who netted 20 points, T.J. Ford added 19 points and Marquis Daniels had a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards in the win.
The Green were paced by Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce who both had double-double’s. Garnett had 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Pierce had 15 points and cleaned the glass 10 times. Tony Allen had 14 points off the bench in the losing effort.
The Celtics return to the court Tuesday night in Houston when they face the Rockets.
