The Indiana Pacers were no match for the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night. Not even close.
Boston scored the third-most points in franchise history as it blew out Indiana, 155-104. Joe Mazzulla's team led by as many as 53 and shot 56.8 percent from the floor, including a scorching 20-for-35 (57.1 percent) from 3-point range. Jayson Tatum (game-high 30 points in 27 minutes) led the way as eight Celtics players scored in double figures.
The game got out of hand quickly. The C's erupted for 44 points in the first quarter and 75 in the first half. It was a wire-to-wire domination, and it didn't sit well with Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle.
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"Ugly, ugly game. I take the blame for this," Carlisle told reporters after the game, per The Boston Globe's Gary Washburn. "This is on me. I didn't have our guys ready to compete. This is an embarrassing result, obviously, and not acceptable for what we are trying to do here."
The Pacers actually shot a more-than-respectable 45.5 percent from the field and only turned the ball over nine times, so it wasn't a complete no-show from Carlisle's group. Their 5-for-37 performance from beyond the arc, however, was problematic. Plus, whenever you let up 155 points in a game -- even against the vaunted Celtics offense -- it's time to go back to the drawing board.
As for the C's, they improved to 4-0 and will look to stay undefeated when they visit the Brooklyn Nets (2-2) on Saturday night.
