Five takeaways from Celtics' Game 1 win over Pacers

It was chaotic and intense, it went to overtime but the Boston Celtics escaped at home with a Game 1 win in the Eastern Conference Finals — and the Indiana Pacers let a prime chance to steal a game on the road slip through their fingers.

It's a loss the Pacers will regret – you only get so many chances to win on the road in the playoffs.

Here are the five big takeaways from Game 1 — that don't involve Jaylen Brown hitting corner 3s.

Jrue Holiday was Boston’s best player

Jaylen Brown hit the big shot that forced overtime. Jayson Tatum led the team in scoring.

Jrue Holiday was the best Celtic on the court and they don't win Game 1 without him. Don't take my word for it.

"Shoutout to Jrue. He's the reason why we won this game…" Jaylen Brown said. "That was special from Jrue Holiday.”

On offense, he attacked Tyrese Haliburton on his way to a season-high 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting, adding eight assists and seven rebounds. However, his defense on Halibuton, particularly in overtime, was even more critical.

"[Holiday] is the best defender in the NBA and has been for a long time…" Tyrese Haliburton said postgame. "I'll learn from it and I'll be better in Game 2.”

Holiday is the one guy on the Celtics with a ring and this is exactly why Brad Stevens went and got him right before the season — on an up-and-down night for most of the Celtics, Holiday was steady. The Celtics aren't up 1-0 in this series without them.

Pacers have to clean up turnovers to win

Indiana did not take care of the ball and it cost them — and not just the obvious turnover inbounding the ball with 10 seconds left, giving Boston and Brown one more chance to tie the game. It was all night long.

Indiana turned the ball over 22 times, or 19.6% of their possessions — in almost one-in-five trips down the court, the Pacers coughed up the ball (or had a 24 second violation, or an offensive foul).

Those 22 turnovers became 32 Boston points in a game that went to overtime.

If the Pacers are going to keep the rest of this series close and have a chance to come back, they have to take care of the ball.

Boston played Indiana’s game and almost lost

For much of the night — particularly in the first half, but for stretches in the second as well — the Celtics were happy to get sucked into the Pacers up-tempo, free-flowing game. It almost cost them the win.

Indiana is not a great defensive team but they play relentlessly fast and it's easy for other teams to get sucked into that pace — they just can't do it as well as Indiana.

Boston raced out to a 12-0 lead to open the game but got sucked into Indiana's style of play, was happy to move the ball around the perimeter rather than get inside, and by halftime, it was 64-64. The Celtics did a better but inconsistent job in the second half slowing the game down and playing north/south with Tatum, Brown and Holiday driving into the paint.

Boston has to play that way, if it plays Indiana's game it will lose.

LeBron knows: Always foul when up three

Rick Carlisle is in the "don't foul late when up 3" camp — his teams don't do it.

They didn't do it after the turnover near the end of regulation. Indiana was still up 3 with 8.5 seconds left, the Pacers didn't play to foul and Brown hit the 3-pointer to force overtime. LeBron James commented from home.

LeBron and J.J. Redick discussed this on their “Mind the Game” podcast. It's situational, but if time and the situation allow it, LeBron is in the "foul and give up two free throws" camp.

Could Pascal Siakam have fouled Brown? Maybe not in this case because he was so intent on fighting through Derrick White's screen below the arc (despite the Pacers being up 3) that he was late to close out and Brown got a clean look. The Pacers didn't defend that well, but they didn't appear to be looking to foul — Carlisle's teams generally do not foul anyway. It cost them in this case.

Boston missed Kristaps Porzingis

At the end of the game, the Pacers relentlessly targeted Al Horford, even if it meant an Andrew Nembhard isolation (not exactly Indiana's best play). It worked.

It was clear throughout the game, not just at the end, how much Kristaps Porzingis, his defense, his 3-point shooting, and his mobility would matter in this series.

Porzingis is targeting a Game 4 return, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported pregame. What Porzignis will the Celtics get? How is he moving coming off a calf strain? Is he on a minute's limit? How long will it take him to shake off the rust.

Boston may not get the 100% of Porzingis when he returns, but it needs whatever he can give in this series.