Rajon Rondo picked apart the Indiana Pacers with nine assists in the first half and both Greg Stiemsma and Ray Allen had the scoring touch as the Boston Celtics took a 43-33 lead over Indiana into halftime on Saturday night in Indianapolis.
Rondo, who only had two points on 1-of-3 shooting, had eight of his nine assists in the first quarter and is one assist away from having double-digit assists in 16 straight games.
Stiemsma had a terrific half, scoring 10 on 4-of-4 shooting while grabbing five rebounds and blocking five shots. Allen, who came off the bench for the second straight game, had 10 points and Sasha Pavlovic chipped in with eight points. Paul Pierce scored five, Avery Bradley had four points and both Kevin Garnett and Brandon Bass scored two points.
Roy Hibbert had eight points and 11 rebounds and Danny Granger and David West each scored eight to lead Indiana, which was held to 31.6 percent from the field in the half.
For more Celtics and Pacers coverage, visit CelticsBlog and Indy Cornrows.