On Wednesday evening, the Boston Celtics took their first loss of the season in a wild game against the Indiana Pacers, one in which reigning Finals (and Eastern Conference Finals) MVP Jaylen Brown struggled mightily. The Pacers led by 21 with just over eight minutes left in the fourth quarter of this one before the Celtics made a rapid comeback, sending the game into overtime on a late Jayson Tatum three. However, Indiana ultimately got the victory in the extra frame thanks to a last second jumper from Pascal Siakam.
Despite the Celtics winning the series 4-0, the Pacers were arguably the team that gave Boston the most trouble during their march through the playoffs a season ago, and now, franchise legend Paul Pierce is speaking on why he sees Indiana as the biggest threat to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference, via All The Smoke productions.
“The Celtics [are] the upper echelon… Please don't sleep on the Pacers. In the East, I think the Pacers are the second-best team. I think they [are] tough to keep up with… And they got depth,” said Pierce.
Indeed, the Pacers are a very deep team, as the Celtics found out firsthand a season ago, with Indiana more than holding their own in games 3 and 4 of that playoff series even after Tyrese Haliburton went down with an injury.
Are the Pacers Boston's biggest threat?
Coming into this season, most experts saw the New York Knicks, with new acquisitions Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges, as being the biggest threats to the Celtics' reign in the Eastern Conference.
However, Boston absolutely stomped all over the Knicks in an opening night victory last week, tying the NBA record for threes in a game with 29 in the process.
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Of course, that doesn't mean that New York won't ultimately become the Celtics' most formidable opponent in the Eastern Conference at some point down the line this season, and it's fair to expect the Knicks to take some time to mesh considering that they acquired Towns just a few weeks ago.
Still, the Pacers do seem to be the only team that consistently can play games down to the wire with this Celtics squad, even if Boston is almost always better at closing out games against them down the stretch.
In any case, the Celtics will look to get back in the win column on Friday evening on the road against the Charlotte Hornets.
