The first takeaway here, of course, is that the In-Season Tournament is doing exactly what Adam Silver hoped it would do. Last week, it generated a ton of interest and conversation about point differential and the importance of respecting the game. This week, it ratcheted the intensity of a Monday in December up several notches. Whether that was because of the money (almost certainly part of it) or because of their competitive nature (almost certainly another part of it) or because they were hoping to go on a work trip to Las Vegas in the middle of the season (almost certainly a third part of it) or some other reason, the players really wanted to win, and the end result was a fun game in a fun environment. Both teams treated Monday's contest like the elimination game it was rather than the regular-season game that it also was. But the Pacers were especially amped by the atmosphere, playing on their home floor in front of fans who understood the gravity of the situation. Monday's game had a frenetic feel, and the Pacers love to play frenetic basketball. "I really wanted to f-ing go to Vegas," Tatum told reporters afterward. That might be true, but after Monday's game, it looked pretty clear which team wanted to go more.
The Celtics shot 12-for-41 from 3-point range (29.3 percent), and the Pacers were 19-for-40 (47.5 percent), which tells roughly half the story of why the Celtics lost. Aside from Sam Hauser, who finished 5-for-7 from deep, the Celtics were a horrific 7-for-34 (20.6 percent) from behind the arc. The other half of the statistical story: The Celtics turned the ball over 18 times, while the Pacers turned it over six times. Facing the league's best offense and one of the league's worst defenses, the Celtics lost the turnover battle badly.
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