Celtics beat Pacers to take 2-0 lead in East

Even before being passed over for an All-NBA team, Jaylen Brown was a significant enough nuisance for the Indiana Pacers that it may have motivated him even more to prove his worth to the Boston Celtics. After missing out on the league's top 15 players' vote the day before and two nights after making a game-saving 3-pointer, Brown scored 10 points in a 20-0 Boston run that transformed a first-quarter deficit into a lead the Celtics never gave up in the second quarter. The top-seeded Celtics, who had lost Game 2 of both of their previous series this playoffs, were led in scoring by Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and Jayson Tatum, who each finished with 23 points and 10 assists.

Indiana, which has won 11 straight games (six of them in the playoffs) since March 18, will host Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday nights at home thanks to 28 points from Pascal Siakam.