Indiana Pacers: 3 takeaways from Game 2 vs. Celtics

2. The foot needs to stay on the gas pedal

The Pacers have built leads in this series that just haven’t lasted very long because of the team’s inability to turn stops into scores when it counts most. The Pacers won the third quarter on Wednesday 29-16, and the lead had ballooned to 12 after a Tyreke Evans three in the fourth quarter.

But unlike their woeful third quarter last Sunday, the Pacers were actually getting looks from all over the floor in the fourth. They just weren’t converting them. McMillan brought the starters back in at the 7:35 mark of the final quarter with the hope that a fresh starting unit could wrap things up, but to no avail.

Domantas Sabonis, usually a stud off of the bench, logged just one point on 0-for-1 shooting in his 22 minutes off of the bench, and it could be argued that his uncharacteristically quiet night played a part in the loss. Conversely, keeping Sabonis in with the starting unit late in the fourth might have proved a difference-maker.

But in any case, the Blue and Gold have to be more aggressive when the scoreboard is in their favor. Kyrie Irving is going to make sure that the Celtics don’t fall too far behind, even if the stops are coming on defense.