at
Indiana Pacers (6-22) at Boston Celtics (17-11)
Monday, December 22, 2025
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #29 Home Game #15
TV: NBCSB, FDSN, NBA-LP
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, 107.5 The Fan, Sirius XM
TD Garden
Probable Celtics Starters 
PG: Derrick White ...................................... SG: Payton Pritchard
C: Neemias Queta
SF: Jaylen Brown ............................................ PF: Jordan Walsh
Celtics ReservesAnfernee Simons
Hugo Gonzalez
Xavier Tillman
Josh Minott
Sam Hauser
Luka Garza
Baylon Scheierman
Chris Boucher
2-Way PlayersRon Harper, Jr
Max Shulga
Amari Williams
Injuries/OutJayson Tatum (Achilles) out
Jaylen Brown (illness) questionable
Jordan Walsh (illness) questionable
Head CoachJoe Mazzulla
Probable Pacers Starters
PG: Andrew Nembhard.................................................. SG: Quenton Jackson
C: Jay Huff
SF: Benedict Mathurin .............................................. PF: Pascal Siakam
Pacers Reserves Tony Bradley
Johnny Furphy
Isaiah Jackson
Kam Jones
Garrison Mathews
TJ McConnell
Jarace Walker
James Wiseman
Two-Way Players Quenton Jackson
Taelon Peter
Ethan Thompson
Injuries/Out Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles) out
Aaron Nesmith (knee) out
Ben Sheppard (calf) out
Obi Toppin (foot) out
Johnny Furphy (ankle) questionable
TJ McConnell (knee) questionable
Head Coach Rick Carlisle
Game Notes The Celtics host the Indiana Pacers for the first of 4 meetings this season. This is a rematch of the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals that the Celtics swept. They will play in Indiana on December 26 and January 12. They will finish out the series in Boston on January 21. The Pacers won the series 2-1 last season, with the Celtics winning one in Boston and losing 1 in Boston and one in Indiana.
The Celtics are 110-87 overall, all time against the Pacers and 63-28 in games played in Boston. The Pacers are playing in the first of back to back games and will play at home against the Bucks on Tuesday. They are 1-3 so far this season in the first of back to back games. The Celtics will have off until Thursday when they play the Pacers in Indiana again.
The Celtics are 3rd in the East, 5 games behind 1st place Detroit, and 3 games behind 2nd place New York. They are half a game ahead of 4th place Philadelphia and 1 game ahead of 5th place Orlando and 6th place Toronto. The Celtics are 13-8 against Eastern Conference opponents. They are 9-5 at home and 7-3 in their last 10 games. They have won their last 2 games.
The Pacers are 14th in the East, 16 games behind first place Detroit. They are 2.5 games behind 13th place Brooklyn, 3 games behind 12th place Charlotte, and 5 games behind 11th place Milwaukee. They are tied with last place Washington. The Pacers are 4-12 against Eastern Conference opponents. They are 1-12 on the road and 4-6 in their last 10 games. They have lost their last 4 games.
Unlike the Celtics that changed a lot after Jayson Tatum's Achilles injury, the Pacers stayed mostly the same with just a couple changes. The biggest change was that Myles Turner, who had been with the team for 10 seasons, left as a free agent for Milwaukee. Thomas Bryant also left as a free agent. The Pacers signed Jay Huff to fill Turner's role at center. They also drafted Kam Jones with the 38th pick and Taelon Peter with the 54th pick.
After this game at home against Indiana, they will head out on a 5 game road trip that will start in Indiana on the day after Christmas and then go through Portland, Utah, Sacramento and the LA Clippers. Next they have a 4 game home stand where they host Chicago, Denver, Toronto, and San Antonio before a 4 game road trip through Indiana once again, Miami, Atlanta and the final game at Detroit.
The Pacers will return home after this game to play Milwaukee and then Boston. After that they will play at Miami, and at Houston before returning home to host Orlando and San Antonio. Then they play at Orlando, at home against Cleveland, at Charlotte and then back home to host Miami and Boston once again.
Jayson Tatum remains out with the Achilles injury. Jaylen Brown missed Saturday's game against the Raptors with an illness and is currently questionable for this game. Jordan Walsh missed the second half of Saturday's game with an illness and is also questionable for this game. If Brown and Walsh have to sit out this game, Sam Hauser, Hugo Gonzalez or possibly Josh Minott may get the call to start.
For the Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton is out due to an Achilles tear he suffered in last years Eastern Conference Finals. Aaron Nesmith is out due to a knee injury. Ben Sheppard is out with a Grade 1 left calf strain. Obi Toppin is out after surgery to place a screw in his right foot. TJ McConnell is questonable with knee soreness. Johnny Furphy is questionable due to a sprained ankle. Both McConnell and Furphy are a game time decision.
Key Matchups vs
Jordan Walsh vs Pascal Siakam
Siakam is averaging 23.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 42.7% from the field and 35.4% from beyond the arc. Over his career, Siakam has averaged 17.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game against the Celtics. The Celtics need to defend him closely and limit his scoring. If Walsh is unable to play, we could see Sam Hauser, Josh Minott, or Hugo Gonzalez get the start here.
vs
Jaylen Brown vs Benedict Mathurin
Mathurin is averaging 18.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.2 assists. He is shooting 43.3% from the field and 37.6% from beyond the arc. Over his career against the Celtics, he averaged 16.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.0 assists. If Jaylen has to miss this game, Sam Hauser is likely to start in his place.
Honorable MentionDerrick White vs Andrew Nembhard
Nembhard is averaging 17.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 6.4 assists while shooting 42.5% from the field and 36.4% from beyond the arc. Over his career against the Celtics, he has averaged 8.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game.
Keys to the Game Defense - Defense is the key to winning every single game. The Pacers haven't been the scoring juggernaut they were last season. They are last in the league with an offensive rating of 108.1 while the Celtics have an offensive rating of 121.3 (3rd). The Celtics are 16th in the league with a defensive rating of 114.7. The Pacers are 19th with a defensive rating of 116.1. The Celtics need to make defense their identity and their priority. Most of their losses this season can be traced to a lack of consistent effort on the defensive end.
Rebound - The Celtics are 19th in the league, pulling down 43.9 rebounds per game. The Pacers are 17th with 44.1 rebounds per game. It is important for the Celtics to rebound the ball to give themselves extra possessions and to prevent the Pacers from getting the same along with 2nd chance points. Much of rebounding is effort and the Celtics have got to put out more effort than the Pacers to grab rebounds.
Don't Underestimate - It would be easy for the Celtics to underestimate the Pacers and expect an easy win. But that would be a mistake. Any team can win on any night if the other team lets down their guard. The Pacers have wins over the Warriors, Hornets, Wizards, Kings and the Bulls (twice). The Celtics lost to the Nets and the Bucks, both of whom they should have beaten. They have to come out and play hard and not underestimate the short handed Pacers.
Be Consistent - The Celtics can't be content with getting big wins on Friday and Saturday. They showed good effort and played hard on both ends in those games, but if they let up in this game, all that effort really accomplished nothing. The Celtics seem to win big games and then let up and lose to teams they should beat. The Celtics have to get back to giving 100% effort in every game.
b]X-Factors[/b]
Home Game - The Celtics are at home and should have the crowd behind them. The Celtics need to protect home court and use the crowd support for motivation. The Pacers have to deal with travel and staying in hotels and playing on an unfamiliar court and in front of hostile fans. The Celtics need to use home court to their advantage and fight hard for a win in this game.
Officiating - The officiating can always be an x-factor. Some referees call the game tight and others let them play. Some favor the home team and others call it evenly. Some refs just seem to have an agenda that doesn't fit the play on the court. And sometimes the refs are simply bad. The Celtics have to play through however the refs call the game, whether it is tight or they let them play or they make terrible calls. The Celtics can't allow bad calls or no calls to take away their focus on the game.
Topic: Pacers (6-22) at Celtics (17-11) Game #29 12/22/25 (Read 180 times)