East Notes: Celtics, Jaylen Brown, Pacers, Raptors

Celtics

All-Star wing Jaylen Brown again stepped to the forefront, scoring 33 points in the Celtics’ road win over the Pistons on Friday.

“It’s an honor to coach Jaylen when is playing like this,” coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters. “He’s processing every possession on both ends of the floor and he’s getting the shots he wants, both for himself and his teammates. He’s playing very well-rounded basketball and it has been fun to watch.”

• Boston was without Jayson Tatum, who sat out to rest a sore ankle. “I just wanted to be aggressive, because we had some guys out,” Brown said. ”When (Tatum) isn’t out there, I know I have to play a little bit faster.”
• The Celtics (56-15) have won eight straight and sport the NBA’s best record. They have five games left on their season-long trip of six.

Pacers

The Pacers overcame a double-digit deficit in the first half for an impressive 12-point road win over the Warriors on Friday, with guard Tyrese Haliburton (26 points, 11 assists) and forward Pascal Siakam (25 points, 16 rebounds) leading the way.

“We had to amp up our attitude in the second half, our overall nastiness to compete and get physical,” coach Rick Carlisle told reporters.

• Center Myles Turner set the franchise record for blocks in the third quarter, passing Jermaine O’Neal along the way. Turner now has 1,246 career blocks, all with Indiana.
• Turner on the accomplishment: “I think it’s amazing. I can leave with something no matter what happens in the future. Now I can tell my kids about this moment, grandkids and hopefully this record is here to stay for a long time.”
• The Pacers (40-31) sit in third in the Central Division and sixth in the Eastern Conference, 2.5 games in front of Miami.
• Indiana is 5-0 at the Chase Center, the only undefeated team in the building since the Warriors made their move to San Francisco.

Raptors

• The Raptors had just seven available players in Friday’s home loss to the Thunder — and have now lost nine straight overall.
• Against the Thunder, they committed a whopping 27 turnovers. “It’s really hard to play when you constantly are having a disadvantage in transition,” coach Darko Rajakovic said.
• Guard Gary Trent Jr. was a late scratch with a back issue. Toronto already was without guard Immanuel Quickley (personal reasons), All-Star forward Scottie Barnes (hand), center Jakob Poeltl (finger), forward RJ Barrett (personal), forward Chris Boucher (knee) and guard D.J. Carton (ankle).