The 4-3 Indiana Pacers will take a 2-2 road record into their game Wednesday in Boston against the Celtics. The Celtics won three of four meetings against the Pacers last season despite missing the playoffs. Both teams are coming off loses, the Pacers on the road and Boston at home. After Monday night's encounter with the Orlando Magic, the Celtics welcome Indiana and later Portland Trailblazers Friday night.
The Pacers' top priority will be to try and contain all-star guard Paul Pierce. Indiana Pacers small forward Danny Granger will most likely be the man on duty with the chore of slowing Paul Pierce down. However Granger could use help on occasion with a double team, which would possibly free up a Celtic or two for some easy shooting.
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The Pacers blew yet another fourth-quarter lead against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, who prevailed over a seven-point final quarter deficit to defeat the Pacers 89-80. Eight of Chicago's 15 rebounds in the fourth were on the offensive end. The Bulls outscored the Pacers 11-2 on second-chance points in the quarter beating the Indiana Pacers on the offensive boards. The Pacers also turned the ball over six times in the final 12 minutes.
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The once regular in playoffs, Boston Celtics, have gotten off to a slow start this season. Their record of 1-5 while trying to put some key players around Pierce and former all-star Wally Szczerbiak has not been very successful.
Winning just one of their first six games has been bad enough for the Celtics. Even worse, a poor record of 1-3 at home followed them into Monday night's game with the Orlando Magic. The Celtics fell to 1-6 on the season with yet another close loss. This time, Orlando scored nine of the last 14 points to take a 92-89 decision over Boston.
They came back to take a one time lead of the game at 84-83 with 2:35 left. However the Magic scored the last five times they came across the half-court line. Unanswered, Orlando proceeded to kill the clock. Lights out. Paul Pierce had 21 points to lead five Celts in double-figures. In spite of that the club shot just 38 percent, while Orlando was able to hit 54 percent.
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Center-forward Al Jefferson, their third-leading scorer, expects to attend the Portland game after his appendix was removed last Wednesday. He thinks he may be able to play in a game next week once he gains back some of the 10 pounds he lost since the surgery. He weighs 250 now, a lot more than he did last season when he missed much of it with an ankle injury
Pacers and the over is the way to go on this one. Indiana is giving 2 with a 195½ total. Road favorite will cover, the under will show on a some what boring game.
