Celtics vs. Pacers score, insights: Jaylen Brown scores 40 points, downplays All-NBA rebuff as Boston takes 2-0 lead

The Boston Celtics lead the Eastern Conference finals 2-0 after defeating the Indiana Pacers 126-110 in Game 2 on Thursday night. Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 40 points and Boston led for most of the game after a strong run early in the second quarter. Jayson Tatum came alive in the second half, scoring 23 points for Boston. The Pacers return to Indiana trailing 2-0 and with an injured point guard.

Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton was excluded in the second half of Game 2 and is Dealing with a thigh injury. Haliburton had 10 points and eight assists in 27 minutes before leaving. Pascal Siakam scored 28 points for the Pacers on 13-of-17 shooting, the most of his team. Indiana was ahead after the first quarter but then went on a long losing streak in which the Celtics scored 20 unanswered points.

The Celtics are just two wins away from their second NBA Finals appearance in three seasons, while the Pacers are playing on familiar ground. Indiana lost its first two road games against the Knicks in the second round of these playoffs before winning four of its last five games to knock off New York. Game 3 is Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where the Pacers are undefeated this postseason.

Here are some key takeaways from the game:

Brown says big night wasn't inspired by All-NBA rejection

Jaylen Brown saved the Celtics in Game 1 with the biggest shot of his career and then had one of his best playoff performances ever, one day after he came close to the All-NBA teamswhich Boston guard Derrick White called a “huge rejection.”

However, Brown said he did not draw any additional motivation from the voting result. “We are two games away from the final, so I honestly don't have time to worry about it,” Brown said after the game.

Less than a minute into the game, Brown drained a three-pointer off a Celtics offensive rebound and stayed calm, finishing with 40 points on 14-of-27 shooting from the field, tying his playoff career high and also scoring the second most points by a Celtic in Eastern Conference Finals history.

Playing against the porous Pacers certainly helps, but this is a significant comeback from Brown, who was awful against the Miami Heat in this round last season. He averaged just 19 points per game and hit 41.8% of his shots, a major reason the Celtics were beaten by the No. 8 seed. In two games in this series, he has scored 66 points on 51.1% shooting, halfway to his point total for the entire series against Miami.

Celtics offense gains momentum in the second half

The Celtics have been one of the league's strongest offensive teams all season. And they showed why in the second half with 24 dominant minutes of basketball in which they punished the Pacers' poor basket defense, got to the free throw line and shone from behind the three-point line.

They made 26 of 40 shots from the field, including 9 of 19 from three-point range, and lost possession just three times. While the Celtics are prone to lax periods where they stand around and handle the ball sloppily, we didn't see any of that after halftime. A two-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, after they had already built a 17-point lead, was their longest scoring drought of the half.

The Pacers actually scored 59 points in the second half on a shooting percentage of 53.5%, but were still 10 points worse than themselves in that period.

Haliburton leaves the team with a thigh injury

Nobody thought much of Tyrese Haliburton leaving the game late in the third quarter, but when he still hadn't returned midway through the fourth quarter, everyone started asking questions. It turned out he was having pain in his left thigh. It was the same thigh that has been bothering him since January.

Apparently he pulled his thigh on a rather harmless play in the third quarter while trying to cover Jayson Tatum.

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said Haliburton's thigh bothered him at halftime, but his star point guard wanted to try his luck in the second half.

“He tried and gave it all he could,” Carlisle said. “It didn't go well. So the trainers decided he needed to go back and get treatment.”

It's too early to say Haliburton's status for Game 3 in Indianapolis on Saturday, but even if he plays, that's bad news for the Pacers. He tried to play despite his injury at the end of the regular season and was much less effective than he was at the start of the season. The Pacers are already in trouble at 0-2, and it will be extremely difficult for them to mount a comeback if Haliburton isn't at his best.