Jeff Green Hits Game-Winner vs Indiana Pacers (VIDEO)

Perfectly executed play.

The Boston Celtics pulled out an improbable, last-second 83-81 win in Indiana. Jeff Green’s layup—off a great play design by the C’s coaching staff—stunned the Pacers. Per the Boston Herald: “Kevin Garnett’s bullet pass was high, so Jeff Green pulled the ball in, ducked under the basket, and put it off the glass as Indiana’s weak side help arrived too late. The Celtics had used up all but five-tenths of a second in the last 23 seconds of an 83-81 win over the Indiana Pacers last night, and execution doesn’t get much better than this. Avery Bradley took the inbounds pass, ran the clock down to 10 seconds, and handed left to Green, who in turn handed off to Garnett in the high post. Paul Pierce, normally the tried and sometimes tired option in these situations, stayed on the left side of the lane as Green circled, and effectively picked David West back into the lane once Green made his baseline cut. Green and Garnett ran at each other like they had just won the state tournament. This is what the Celtics have been for the last month — a team that, in Doc Rivers’ words, ‘hangs around. We stole the game.’ They are also 13-4 since losing Rajon Rondo for the season. [...] Rivers had drawn up a pick-and-roll for Garnett and Green, figuring the latter could use his speed against West, when assistant coach Armond Hill interrupted, and called for a play that had nearly worked in the first half. ‘It’s great when you draw up a play, and the guys know the play and you hear them (say), ‘Yeah, this is a good one for us,’ said Rivers. ‘It doesn’t mean it’s going to work, but you know they’re going to run it with confidence. Right when we drew it up you could hear them — this is good. (The other players) told Kevin, ‘We had it in the first quarter and it was deflected. It was the exact same play. Don’t get it deflected.’ And when a group has confidence in it you have a chance that it’s going to work.’”