The champion team “Celtics”, playing the second match in a row without Porzingis, lost at home 114:123 (29:27, 29:38, 33:33, 23:25), suffering the third defeat in the last four games.
Two days earlier, “Celtics” were superior in the mutual match between the two teams with 142:105, but they failed to repeat the success. Porzingis did not participate in that match either due to an ankle injury.
In Sunday’s match, Jalen Brown was the top scorer for the home team with 31 points, Jason Tatum scored 22 points, and Peyton Pritchard scored 21 points.
This was already the sixth loss for the “Celtics” at home this season. Last year, in the course of the entire season, only four defeats were experienced in 41 home matches, but on the way to the championship, in 11 playoff games, the Bostonians did not win only two of 11 games at home.
In the “Pacers” team, Tyris Halliburton stood out with 31 points, while Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard added 17 points each.
“Celtics” with 23 victories in 32 matches are the vice-leader of the Eastern Conference behind Cleveland “Cavaliers” (27-4), while “Pacers” are eighth with 16 victories in 33 games.
The Bostonians will also play the next game at home, meeting the Toronto “Raptors” on New Year’s Eve at 10 p.m. Latvian time.