Jaylen Brown scores 40 points and Pacers fade late in Game 2 with Tyrese Haliburton out

BOSTON -- After losing a heartbreaker in Game 1, the Pacers faced some familiar issues on the glass in Game 2 and lost All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton to injury in the second half, falling 126-110 to the No. 1 seed Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals Thursday at TD Garden.

The Celtics take a 2-0 lead in the series. Game 3 will be Saturday at 8:30 p.m. at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on ABC.

Here are four observations.

Tyrese Haliburton injury: Pacers Tyrese Haliburton out for rest of Game 2 with leg soreness

Jaylen Brown goes off for 40 after All-NBA snub

Celtics wing Jaylen Brown was the last player left off the All-NBA team which was released on Wednesday. He finished with 50 points in the voting, which put him at 16th place for the three five-man teams and he had a distant lead over Paul George, who finished 17th.

Brown seemed motivated by that snub and he was already coming off a high after drilling the game-tying 3-pointer to force overtime in Game 1. So Brown was on the attack from the beginning, scoring seven points in the first quarter and then 17 in the second to go into halftime with 24. He scored the Celtics' first two buckets of the second half and continued scoring from all three levels, finishing with 40 points on 14 of 27 shooting including 4 of 10 from 3-point range. Brown also recorded five rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Fellow Celtics wing Jayson Tatum, who was named first-team All-NBA on Wednesday, struggled in the first half after scoring 36 points in Game 1. He was just 2 of 8 from the floor with four points at halftime, but got going in the second half and finished with 23 points on 9 of 20 shooting.

Celtics outmuscle Pacers in the paint and on the glass

The Pacers worst performances in these playoffs have come when they were pushed around inside and on the glass. The Celtics can tend to be a little too perimeter oriented -- which works when they're hitting 3s and doesn't when they aren't -- but they put a focus on getting shots at the rim and they also attacked the glass even though they played with small lineups for much of the game.

The Celtics outscored the Pacers 54-34 in the paint and won the rebounding battle 40-37, grabbing 13 offensive rebounds to the Pacers' 12 and scoring 18 second-chance points to the Pacers' 13. It helped their cause that Pacers center Myles Turner grabbed three early fouls and was mostly taken out of the picture.

The difference was more drastic in the first half when the Celtics out-rebounded the Pacers 25-17, grabbed 10 offensive rebounds to the Pacers three and scored 12 second-chance points to the Pacers' four. Rebounding helped the Celtics start the second quarter with a 15-0 run that became a 20-2 spurt before the Pacers made their first field goal with 6:01 to go in the period. The Pacers fought back and got the game within two points at one point in the third quarter but never tied the game or took the lead after that.

The Pacers also had 16 turnovers, though the Celtics turned those into just 12 points after turning 21 into 32 on Tuesday.

"The bottom of the stat sheet is ugly," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "We lost the rebounds, the second-chance points were a big factor. Turnovers, once again were a big problem. We have to do better in those areas."

Pascal Siakam keeps the Pacers in it for a while

From the time he was acquired, Pascal Siakam has advertised himself to his teammates as the man they could rely on when things aren't going the way they're supposed to. The Pacers are at their best when everything is working in sync and stops are leading to transition opportunities and off-balance defenses, good ball movement and layups or open 3s, but there has to be an option when everything isn't working according to plan. As a 6-8 wing with a 7-3 wingspan, handles, and the ability to score from all three levels, Siakam has proven time and time again he can be that option.

The Pacers needed him in the second quarter when they allowed the Celtics to start the period on a 17-0 run. Siakam scored 12 points in that period alone on 6 of 7 shooting to cut what had been a 15-point deficit down to six points at the half. Siakam scored the Pacers' last 10 points of the period. At halftime, he had 16 points on 8 of 9 shooting and the Pacers were still in the game despite a long list of first-half mishaps.

"We got stops and we started running a little bit," Siakam said. "It obviously feels good when you're making a shot or whatever, but the fact is we were more aggressive. We got stops. We got rebounds, which we didn't do for good parts of the game. However we want to play as a team, I'm able to do that. If we want to play fast, I can do that. If we want to play slow I can do that."

The game eventually did get out of hand in the second half, but Siakam finished with 28 points on 13 of 17 shooting. He hit both of his 3-point attempts, grabbed five rebounds and had two assists.

Tyrese Haliburton leaves game with lower leg soreness

Tyrese Haliburton knocked down his first 3-pointer to start Thursday's game and had some strong moments but he also seemed to be in frequent pain and left the game with 3:44 to go in the third quarter never to return. The Pacers posted on their social media account that he was out for the rest of the game with left leg soreness. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after the game that Haliburton's left hamstring was sore and that the Pacers would learn more about the injury on Friday and Saturday.

Before the injury, Haliburton scored 10 points on 4 of 8 shooting including 2 of 6 from 3-point range. He also dished out eight assists and grabbed four rebounds.

With Haliburton off the floor in the fourth, the Pacers were missing too much firepower to come back. After rallying back from double-digit deficits multiple times in the second and third periods, they fell behind by double digits again in the fourth. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle dug into his bench early, bringing Doug McDermott in after he hadn't played meaningful minutes in several games, and he pulled the starters early in the final quarter.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Jaylen Brown, Celtics cruise to Game 2 win with Tyrese Haliburton out