BOSTON — The last time the Boston Celtics scored 155 points in a regular-season game, there was only one championship banner hanging in the rafters of the old Boston Garden. Red Auerbach was still the coach. The Lakers were still in Minneapolis.
On Wednesday night, Jayson Tatum helped them do it again.
“I think it’s more about not being bored,” said guard Jrue Holiday, one of eight Celtics to score in double figures in a 155-104 victory over the Indiana Pacers. “It’s not getting complacent and locking into every game, and each opponent.”
The 155 points was the most for the much-decorated franchise since the 1958-59 team that featured Bob Cousy and young stars Bill Russell and Tommy Heinsohn and beat Minneapolis 173-139. Tatum had 30 points and 12 rebounds before sitting out the fourth quarter, and the Celtics used a blistering start to pull away from the Pacers and remain unbeaten.
“We’ve got so many weapons,” guard Derrick White said. “You’ve got so much talent around you, it makes the game easy.”
One game after blowing out the Wizards in Washington, the Celtics returned home and beat the Pacers even worse. White (18 points), Jaylen Brown (16), Holiday (15) and Kristaps Porzingis (13) helped Boston open a 10-point lead in the first three minutes, making it 20 in the second quarter, 30 in the third and as high as 53 points in the fourth.
Sam Hauser scored 17 points, and Payton Pritchard had 15 for the Boston bench, which outscored Indiana 46-33 in the fourth quarter to complete the rout.
“We’ve got everything, right? We’re in the paint. There’s a mid-range, and you have the 3. I feel like that threat makes us even harder to guard,” Holiday said. “I feel like we have a lot of bases covered.”
The 51-point win is tied for the third-largest in Celtics history, trailing a 53-point win vs. the Kings in 2022 and a 56-point win at Chicago in 2018.
Boston is the second team since 1990 to begin a season 4-0 while scoring 500 or more points across the four games, joining the 2018-19 Pelicans.
Information from ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press was used in this report.
Source: www.espn.com