One thing about the Boston Celtics, while they have the Big Three in their starting rotation, you never know which one will come up big during any given game – whether it is Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce or Ray Allen.  In Sunday’s game against the Indiana Pacers, the member of The Big Three who came through in the clutch was Allen; Allen scored 35 points and the Celtics needed every one of them as they had to go into an overtime period to escape from Conseco Fieldhouse with a hard-fought 122-117 victory.

Both teams played tight during the first half, with Boston outscoring Indiana 32-22 during the first quarter while the Pacers outscored the Celtics 35-23; the Pacers would go into halftime only leading by 2.  Fast-forwarding to the final quarter, Indiana’s Jarrett Jack was fouled with 14.4 seconds left in regulation and made both free throws, giving the Pacers a 105-102 lead; Allen missed a quick trey, but Eddie House rebounded and got the ball to Pierce, who hit a 3 which tied the game with 7.5 seconds left.  Missed shots by both teams sent the game into the extra period.

The Pacers trailed in overtime 111-108 before Rasho Nesterovic scored and was fouled; however, he missed the free throw, allowing Boston to keep their lead.  Rajon Rondo scored on a floater to make it 113-110 but Indiana’s Jarrett Jack made a one of two free throws with 1:13 left to reduce the Celtics’ lead to 113-111; Allen drained a 3-pointer to make it 116-111 with 43 ticks left but the Pacers’ T.J. Ford drained a 3 of his own to make it 118-115 with 22.8 seconds remaining, but Bosotn would make 4 of 4 free throws the rest of the way.

Boston was led by Allen with 35 points (including 7 three-pointers), 2 rebounds and 2 assists while Pierce and Garnett each added 17 – with Pierce grabbing 3 rebounds, dishing out 8 assists along with 2 steals while Garnett grabbed 20 boards, dished out 4 assists, had 5 steals and a blocked shot; House chipped in, scoring 15 (including 3 treys) with 2 rebounds and 2 assists.

Indiana was led by Marquis Daniels with a game-high 26 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and a blocked shot while Danny Granger added 20 with 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots; Jack chipped in, scoring 17 with 3 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and a blocked shot while Troy Murphy added 15 with 6 rebounds, an assist and a steal.  Boston (20-2) does not play again until Thursday when they visit Washington to take on the Wizards while Indiana (7-13) goes north to Canada to take on the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.