The Indiana Pacers gave up a 4-point lead in the closing seconds to Celtics, lose 112-111. Clark Wade/IndyStar
INDIANAPOLIS – The odds were stacked unbelievably in the Indiana Pacers' favor Monday night after Victor Oladipo gave them a five-point lead over the visiting Boston Celtics with 30 seconds to play.
Teams that trailed by so much with so little left on the clock this season were 0-379, per ESPN Stats & Info. Now they're 1-379. Boston, which had led by 19, managed a 112-111 victory to improve their Eastern Conference-leading record to 26-7.
"We're fortunate to win," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "That was a great effort by them. I've been on both sides of this, and it's a hard one to swallow, I'm sure."
Boston's Terry Rozier stole a bad Bojan Bogdanovic pass in the final seconds and dunked the deciding bucket. The jam capped a bizarre final 3 seconds that will surely sting the Pacers (17-14) as they move on from a back-to-back featuring a win and a loss.
Bogdanovic, who scored 10, wasn't available after the game to comment on the play. Head coach Nate McMillan said his pass was simply, "in the air for a long time."
The ball was in the hands of Cory Joseph just a moment earlier. He should have been fouled by the Celtics. Really, they were trying. But sometimes things just work out in your favor.
"I think fouling is the most logical outcome," Stevens said with a grin. "But logic doesn't always work. So I'm glad we didn't foul."
Joseph, who said he put his teammate in a tough spot, passed to Bogdanovic. He, too, should have been on the receiving end of an inevitable Celtics foul.
But before they had a chance, he lofted it to the Pacers' go-to guy. Much to the dismay of the Pacers and the reported 16,055 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Oladipo's heroics had run out.
"Lucky for us," said Celtics guard Shane Larkin, "he didn't want any part of the ball and lofted it up there."
Rozier stole it and the game.
"I was like, 'Ah, no,'" said Lance Stephenson, who scored 11 off the bench. "But we'll move on from it. It's going to be all right. We're going to make up for it ... we're going to take it out on Atlanta."
Apart from how bizarre the final seconds played out, the Celtics win felt so unlikely because, once again, Oladipo took over late. He dropped 30 of his 38 in the second half while shooting 13-of-23 from the floor.
After Monday's stunning performance, he's third in the NBA in points scored after halftime with 408. Only LeBron James (435) and Damian Lillard (437) have more.
Kyrie Irving dropped 30 to lead the Celtics, and some of his play down the stretch was gaudy as well. His two 3-pointers in the final minutes kept the game within reach, and proved to be the antidote to a red-hot Oladipo.
"Again, we fought our way back like clock work," Oladipo said. "And we came up short again. A few games before, we came out on the winning end. Tonight, not so much."
You can find IndyStar sports producer Dakota Crawford on Twitter: @DakotaCrawford_.
Read more on the Pacers:
- Twitter goes nuts for Victor Oladipo despite Pacers loss
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