Boston Celtics: 3 takeaways from Game 4 victory vs. Pacers

3. The Celtics can win without Kyrie Irving’s offense

After a sublime Game 2 in Boston, where Kyrie was one of only three Celtics to score double-digits by hanging 37 points on a very efficient shooting night, it felt like Boston might need magic from the former Duke Blue Devil in order to win every night. As it turns out, they don’t.

Irving contributed just 14 points on a 4-of-13 shooting afternoon against Indiana in Game 4. While he made his presence felt in the passing game, providing the Cs with seven assists, his lackluster shooting felt detrimental. At times, it seemed like Irving was searching, forcing offense instead of flowing effortlessly through the half-court as he usually does.

Fortunately for Boston, the bench stepped up to weather a rare off night from the All-Star point guard. Gordon Hayward was able to lift the Celtics with 20 points, including a 3-for-3 effort from the 3-point line, while role players Marcus Morris and Terry Rozier were also able to reach double digits in the scoring column.

The Celtics were lifted by a balanced performance. Shortening the rotation to just nine players, if you count the counting stat-free six minutes of play Daniel Theis saw, Boston saw seven players reach double-digits in the scoring column.

Boston’s balanced scoring effort becomes even more inspiring considering it happened with Irving, Horford, and Jayson Tatum providing less-than-stellar efforts in terms of efficiency. Jaylen Brown, Morris, Rozier and Hayward were all able to shoot higher than 50 percent in the game, and clutch play from the role players in the fourth quarter led Boston to the series sweep.