The Boston Celtics will look to bounce back from a winless weekend when they host the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.
Boston, which is two games into a seven-game homestand, has lost four of its last five games after falling to the Orlando Magic on Friday and Sunday.
Despite shooting a season-low 34.8 percent without Jayson Tatum (personal reasons), the Celtics fell just a possession short in Sunday’s 95-92 loss.
Boston has not eclipsed the 30 percent mark from 3-point range in their last four losses.
On Sunday, though, 22 of the team’s 31 field goals were assisted. Marcus Smart had seven of them, while Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 24 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Boston’s biggest bright spot was the return of big man Robert Williams, who had not played prior to Friday after September knee surgery.
The return of his thunderous dunks energized the crowd, but the Celtics were not able to take advantage of his 7.5 points per game and pick up a win.
Indiana has also lost four of five games, most recently falling to the streaking Knicks 109-106 on Sunday in New York. Forward Aaron Nesmith logged career highs of 23 points and 10 rebounds for his first NBA double-double.
Buddy Hield matched Nesmith’s 23 points, Tyrese Haliburton added 15 and 10 assists, and rookie Bennedict Mathurin also scored 15.
Nesmith was the Celtics’ top draft pick in 2020 (No. 14 overall) and helped the team reach the NBA Finals last summer, but he has averaged 8.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in a more regular role with Indiana. He has started 15 of his 27 games this season.
Nesmith was 9 of 12 from the field and 4 of 6 from 3-point range in 31 minutes during his career night.
Sunday concluded a stretch of 19 games in 33 days for Indiana.
This is the first meeting between the teams this season. The Celtics have won five of the last six contests, including three out of four last season.
