The Boston Celtics’ historic beatdown of the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night was not only exceptional in the lopsidedness of the game’s final score, there were a number of other aspects of the highly atypical contest worth a second look.
NBA statistical guru Dick Lipe took a magnifying glass to the extraordinary Eastern Conference contest after the dust had settled a little, and came up with a host of intriguing facts about the Boston win worth sharing. Shared with legendary Boston beat writer Steve Bulpett — currently with Heavy — the game was clearly one for the ages and then some.
Let’s take a look at what the so-called Sultan of Stat dug up about the blowout.
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For starters, the 155 points Boston hung on Indiana is not only their second-worst loss in franchise history, but it is also the second-most points Boston has ever scored on an opponent in its nearly eight decades of history, contradicting earlier reports of it being the third-most.
Per Lipe, the only game Boston scored more in was a 173-point win over the (then) Minneapolis Lakers (now, Los Angeles) in 1959 that saw Tommy Heinsohn put up 43 points and Bob Cousy 31 points and 28 assists.
Celtics blow by Pacers, flirt with history in 155-104 victory over Indiana https://t.co/FRvwLpmaYw via @thecelticswire
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) November 2, 2023
According to the Sultan of Swat, it is also just the second time the Celtics have won by 50 while scoring at least 150.
The only other time that happened was vs. the Philadelphia Warriors (now, Golden State), where they blew out Wilt Chamberlain’s squad 153-102 just days after his famous 100-point game against the New York Knicks in 1962.
Seems like Wilt should have saved some of those buckets for later, as Boston held him to just 30 points, his third-worst game of that season.
HIGHLIGHTS: Celtics score THIRD-MOST POINTS IN FRANCHISE HISTORY in dominating win over the Pacers https://t.co/N49KSyQACg pic.twitter.com/8PKUb62pKA
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) November 2, 2023
The last time the Celtics put up 150 points in a game, it was 31 years prior on November 25, 1992.
Boston had not yet begun its 1990s nosedive with the great Reggie Lewis still with the team and putting up 29 points in the blowout against the (then) Washington Bullets (now, Wizards).
Lewis did so on a hyper-efficient 14-of-17 shooting from the floor, hinting at the sort of monster player he could have been for many years to come had tragedy not struck soon after.
The secret to Boston's success so far? Per Jrue Holiday, 'you stay humble' https://t.co/MLF8Vx4O3p pic.twitter.com/DlyX2olSVn
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) November 2, 2023
And for all of the fretting over the Celtics seemingly having a moribund bench yet again despite all of the turnover on that part of the roster, Boston’s bench was nearly as good as their starters, evidently scoring can come by drafting in the wake of the Celtics’ elite starters.
The Celtics’ reserves hung 46 points of their own during the game’s final frame as Boston sat their starters the entire fourth quarter once up big for the second game in a row, and the bench players delivered.
So much so that it was the Celtics’ fourth-highest scoring quarter of any players since 1996 when they hung the same on the Dallas Mavericks in one quarter.
PHOTOS – Indiana at Boston: Celtics flatten Pacers with third-highest score ever https://t.co/Qdz3iNhq3g pic.twitter.com/o1YKFMvFLb
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) November 2, 2023
The 4-0 Celtics have hit that record for the first time in 14 seasons, and per Lipe, have scored 508 points over that stretch, the most since a certain Hick From French Lick put up 510 points.
That would be in the 1979-80 season when a rookie Larry Bird was getting busy helping Boston to make one of the greatest single-season turnarounds in league history as the Celtics went from 29-53 the campaign prior to 61-21.
Reacting to the Boston Celtics' historic blowout of the Indiana Pacers https://t.co/YsrSwk6Mg4 pic.twitter.com/vnkMxlIvjH
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) November 2, 2023
Boston’s starters currently have plus/minus rating of +63 for Jayson Tatum, +61 for Derrick White, +57 for Kristaps Porzingis, 54 for Jaylen Brown, and +48 for Jrue Holiday.
And even though that Pacers loss was their second-worst in franchise history, Indiana managed to score 70 points in the paint to the Celtics’ 52 with just 9 turnovers to Boston’s 13, and 6 blocks to the Celtics’ 2.
The scariest part for the rest of the league is that it looked like Boston hardly broke a sweat in getting such a lopsided win.
Al Horford addresses his new role off the Celtics bench https://t.co/gyac9HfNNz pic.twitter.com/Fy50jwx7aZ
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) November 2, 2023
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