Three games into their home schedule, the Boston Celtics are still perfect. Now, things get interesting, as Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics play host to the revamped Indiana Pacers at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Friday night at TD Garden in Boston, MA (TV/Radio: CSNNE/WEEI).
Boston (4-3) is riding a four-game winning streak and is a perfect 3-0 at home this season. Meanwhile, Indiana dropped its last game and sits at 4-2 on the young season. The Celtics and Pacers will meet a total of four times this season.
The Celtics defeated the New Jersey Nets, 89-70, in their last game on Wednesday night. Without leading scorer Ray Allen, the C's turned to the captain, Paul Pierce, who scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed six rebounds and had five assists. Brandon Bass added 15 points and 13 rebounds, Kevin Garnett totaled 14 points and 12 rebounds and Rajon Rondo chipped in with eight points and 12 assists for Boston, which shot 49.3 percent from the floor in the victory.
In their last game, the Pacers were smoked by the Miami Heat, 118-83, on Wednesday. LeBron James scored 33 points and had eight rebounds and 13 assists while Chris Bosh scored 22 to lead Miami. Indiana was led by a double-double from Roy Hibbert, who totaled 16 points and 10 rebounds. Tyler Hansbrough scored 14 points off the bench, Paul George had 13 points and Darren Collison finished with 10 points for the Pacers, who were held to 34.8 percent shooting.
Boston and Indiana squared off four times last season, with the Celtics winning three times. The Celtics posted three victories in the first three games against the Pacers -- 99-88 on Dec. 19, 95-83 on Dec. 28 and 92-80 on Mar. 16 -- before losing in the season series finale, 107-100, on Mar. 28.
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