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Pascal Siakam drilled the game-winning three-pointer in overtime as the Indiana Pacers beat Boston 135-132 on Wednesday, handing the NBA champion Celtics their first defeat of the season.
Bennedict Mathurin led the Pacers with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Siakam added 29 and Tyrese Haliburton scored 17 points with 12 assists for Indiana, who led by as many as 24 early in the third quarter. Boston outscored Indiana 38-24 in the fourth, twice cutting the deficit to three before Jayson Tatum drained a step-back three-pointer with 14.4 seconds remaining in regulation.
Boston took their first lead since the first quarter on Derrick White's driving layup that made it 132-130 with 39.7 seconds left. But Siakam had the last word, making a basket to tie it then rising for a three-pointer over Haliburton with 7.3 seconds to play. "It's big, it's big," Siakam said. "We got a couple of games where we lost by a couple of turnovers, rebounds. So we wanted to get this one." Tatum scored 37 points, Brown added 25 and White scored 23 for Boston, but they couldn't pull off the miracle. "We let them come back, but I thought we fought," Siakam said. "That's what we've got to do. We've got to be a team that fights to the end."
Boston dropped to 4-1 as Cleveland improved to 5-0 for just the third time in franchise history. Indiana's victory in a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference finals left the Cleveland Cavaliers as the East's only unbeaten team. The Cavs gave the Los Angeles Lakers a rough ride, despite a warm reception for Bronny James in Cleveland, where the hosts dominated in a 134-110 victory to improve to 5-0.
