Tatum scores 36 points, Brown hits 3 to force OT and the Celtics beat the Pacers 133-128 in Game 1 of the East final

BOSTON (AP) – The Celtics entered the playoffs expecting everyone to do their best.

The East's top seed barely survived the difficult opening round of the Eastern Conference.

Jayson Tatum scored 36 points, including 10 in overtime after Jaylen Brown's equalizing 3-pointer With 6.1 seconds left in regulation, Boston rallied just in time to beat the Indiana Pacers 133-128 on Tuesday night.

Jrue Holiday scored a season-high 28 points and Brown finished the season with 26.

“Welcome to the NBA playoffs. You just have to deal with your emotions. Anything can happen,” Brown said of the 3-0 draw. “It’s not over until the final buzzer sounds. … It is not over till it's over. We found a way to win the game in the end.”

It gave his team new life and helped them maintain their home-court advantage with Game 2 scheduled for Thursday in Boston.

However, Tatum also warned against complacency. The Celtics have lost Game 2 in each of their previous two series.

“It doesn’t prove anything,” Tatum said. “We won a great game. The series is far from over.”

Tyrese Haliburton had 25 points and 10 assists for the Pacers, who knocked down 13 3-pointers and scored 56 points in the game against a Celtics team still playing without 7-footer Kristaps Porzingis.

But Boston stepped up its defense and finished the game with 11 steals – three each from Brown, Tatum and Holiday. The Celtics become the first team in NBA playoff history to have three players score 25 points and three steals in a game.

The Celtics were cold from 3-point range for most of the game, but finished the night 15 of 45 from long range.

“We always talk about protecting the home court,” Celtics forward Al Horford said. “It’s all that’s needed.”

Pascal Siakam contributed 24 points and 12 rebounds. Myles Turner finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Pacers, who lost the game twice with a three-point lead in the final 30 seconds of regulation.

Brown paid for the second goal when he made it 117-1 with a three-pointer from the corner that hit Siakam right in the face.

“Jrue made a good pass, (Derrick White) made a great block and the rest is history,” Brown said.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla liked the attitude Brown showed.

“Jaylen had great balance,” he said. “Great pass, great shot.”

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said the loss was “entirely my fault” for not calling a timeout to advance the ball before the turnover that set up Brown's shot.

When asked about the 21 turnovers Indiana committed, Haliburton said many of them were avoidable.

“I think it’s more up to us,” he said. “I just felt like there were probably more of them coming at us than forcing turnovers.”

The Celtics are now 2-2 when their opponent scores 100 or more points.

Holiday said the Celtics never panicked after falling behind late in regulation

“I think we always knew there was always a chance. “We’ve seen crazy things happen all the time,” Holiday said. “I don’t think we thought we lost the game until we actually lost it, and that’s one of the reasons we were so resilient.”

Indiana regained the lead, 123-121, when Haliburton made all three free throws after being fouled with 1:46 left. Tatum then made a layup and was fouled by TJ McConnell. He completed the three-point play and gave Boston the lead for good.

The Pacers pivoted again, this time through Haliburton. The ball found its way to Tatum at the top of the key. He pumped, evaded a defender and sank a 3 to make it 127-123 with 43 seconds left.

White and Siakam exchanged layups. Holiday was fouled and sank two free throws that gave Boston a 131-125 lead.

“It's unfortunate that we did so much good in this game that there were a few mistakes at the end, but it's the NBA playoffs,” Carlisle said. “We have to learn from this and get back on our feet.”

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