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Celtics blow out Pacers by 51, Tatum scores 30 and sits fourth quarter

Indiana Pacers v Boston Celtics
Indiana Pacers v Boston Celtics

The Indiana Pacers are a legitimately good team, they came into Wednesday night 2-1 with a +9 net rating behind Tyrese Haliburton averaging 20 points and 12.3 assists a game. Except Haliburton was out on Wednesday night and that proved to be to be an ominous omen.

The Boston Celtics took Indiana to the woodshed — 155-104. A 51-point win where the Celtics were up by 10 in the first three minutes, 21 at the half, and the entire fourth quarter felt like garbage time. Here are just a few wild stats from this game.

• That 155 is the second most points in a game in Celtics history. It comes one game after the Celtics beat the Wizards by 19.

• The Celtics got 30 points and 12 rebounds from Jayson Tatum and he never set foot on the court in the fourth quarter.

• Eight Celtics scored in double figures.

• Sam Houser had 17 for Boston and hit 5-of-6 from 3.

Derrick White had 18 points, Payton Pritchard had 15 off the bench.

• As friend of this site Keith Smith pointed out pregame, these Celtics had a habit last season of playing down to opponents, especially if that team was missing its star, as the Pacers were tonight. These Celtics are more disciplined and focused. It's a good sign for Celtics fans and bad news for the rest of the league.