The Indiana Pacers gave up a 4-point lead in the closing seconds to Celtics, lose 112-111. Clark Wade/IndyStar
INDIANAPOLIS - The Indiana Pacers lost a stunner Monday night.
After Victor Oladipo led a furious comeback, Indiana Pacers forward Bojan Bogdanovic threw it away, With the Pacers holding a one-point lead, Bogdanovic telegraphed a high cross-court pass intended for Oladipo. Boston Celtics guard Terry Rozier read Bogdonavic's pass like a favorite book. Rozier made the steal and went to the basket for a breakaway dunk with 1.5 seconds to play, lifting the Celtics an improbable 112-111 victory at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
► BOX SCORE: Celtics 112, Pacers 111
It spoiled a 38-point performance by Oladipo, who took over another game down the stretch. Celtics guard Kyrie Irving (30 points) was also superb, but Oladipo put the Pacers (17-14) in position to get a signature win over the Celtics (26-7), who have the best record in the Eastern Conference. Instead, the Pacers must deal with a gut-wrenching loss, and the stunned crowd at Bankers Life Fieldhouse stared at the court in disbelief, long after the final buzzer sounded.
"It's a tough loss, a tough tough loss," said Oladipo, who poured in 14 in the fourth quarter. "It was just a crazy game."
It was a homecoming that Celtics coach and former Butler coach Brad Stevens will not soon forget.
"We're fortunate to win," said Stevens. "That was a great effort by them. I've been on both sides of this, and it's a hard one to swallow, I'm sure."
Oladipo appeared to give the Pacers the win, driving past Marcus Smart, and ducking under Al Horford for a 6-foot bank shot that put the Pacers ahead, 107-102, with 31.3 seconds to play. However, Irving wasn't done and neither were the Celtics. After a timeout, Irving buried a quick 3-pointer from the corner to pull the Celtics to within 107-105 with 27.5 seconds to play. But Celtics guard Jalen Brown was called for a foul away from the ball after Irving's basket, and Lance Stephenson made both foul shots to put Indiana ahead by four.
Smart answered with a driving bucket, and it was 109-107 Pacers with 22.2 seconds to go. Oladipo was intentionally fouled with 19.5 seconds to play, and he calmly made both free throws to put Indiana ahead by four.
But then came Irving again. This time he made a 3 off a curl to pull the Celtics to within 111-110 with 9.3 seconds left. Then came Bogdonavic's fatal mistake, after he inbounded the ball to Cory Joseph, who then made a return pass Bogdonovic. Either Joseph or Bogdanovic could have held onto the ball, and forced the Celtics to foul. Instead, Bogdonovic threw an ill-advised pass that Rozier was ready to pounce on.
"Miscues down the stretch cost us the game," said McMillan. "It's hard to take, but you're going to have to move on, stay together."
