As the Celtics cruise, the Pacers lost their star and their swagger -

BOSTON — When they’re at their best, the Indiana Pacers are a hoops confectionary. They’re a tasty alternative in a professional game that offers too much staleness in iso ball, which often relies on the brightest star with the biggest contract taking the shots. Though the Pacers now have their own resident all-NBA player in Tyrese Haliburton, do not confuse them for a solo operation. Instead, they’re a balm for basketball.

When they’re on, they’re a delight to behold. The ball zips around, finding shooters and drivers, whoever’s open, no matter the size of his contract. They pile up the assists because sharing means winning, and they’ve won so much while playing their relentless, chaotic pace that they’ve made it this deep into the calendar for the first time in a decade. As fun and egalitarian as they make basketball look by trusting the pass and believing in one another, they largely spent the regular season as a poor man’s Golden State Warriors. Nobody — not even the most die-hard Pacers fan — could have predicted this team would evolve into an Eastern Conference finalist.

But two games into their big showcase against the Boston Celtics, these Pacers are missing what makes them so dangerous. Their joy.

On Thursday night, Indiana exuded so little of that key ingredient during a 126-110 loss. Witness T.J. McConnell growling and Myles Turner searching, pleading and still not finding anyone to take his side. But much worse than the flashes of frustration was the sight of Haliburton retreating to the Pacers’ sideline in the third quarter and not returning to the floor.

Only later did the reason for his absence became known: a sore left hamstring. The same left hamstring that caused him to miss 10 games during the regular season. The same left hamstring that nearly stole the Pacers’ joy when the team went 6-4 in the games he missed, then lost five of eight upon his hobbled return.

Following Thursday’s defeat, Indiana Coach Rick Carlisle tolerated a litany of questions on the injury — how Haliburton might have hurt his leg, whether he had aggravated the same injury from late January, his status for Game 3 on Saturday night in Indianapolis. Finally, Carlisle grew tired in his role as a pseudo-orthopedic specialist.

“I think we need to move on to another topic here,” Carlisle said, redirecting reporters in the postgame news conference.

Unfortunately for the Pacers, if Haliburton remains hurt or limited, there will be no other topics to discuss. Nothing else will matter. Maybe they’ll get to play a few more games before Boston, the East’s top team, takes its predictive place in the NBA Finals. But certainly if the conductor of the Pacers’ symphony of randomness can no longer be himself, there will be no more joy.

“Losing Ty for the game, obviously, was a big blow,” Carlisle said, a quote that could define the rest of the series for Indiana.

Still, besides Haliburton’s exit, other maladies factored into the Pacers falling into this 2-0 hole. The team in gold looked a step or two slow on defense and got cooked 54-34 in the paint. The Pacers were sloppy at the start, committing 10 turnovers in the first half. Mostly, they looked discontented.

The spiral began in the second quarter. The Pacers led 27-25, but immediately after forward Pascal Siakam couldn’t finish at the rim, Boston’s Al Horford got a breakaway dunk. The next time down, the Celtics secured three straight offensive rebounds to extend a possession before Jaylen Brown closed it with a layup, one of his forceful buckets in a 40-point night.

When Carlisle burned a quick timeout, McConnell, the backup point guard, spread his arms and slapped down at his sides, then huddled up his teammates near the sideline, red-faced and screaming. In his defense, watching Old Man Horford beat the entire Indiana team down court could make anyone lose his temper.

Later, when Turner picked up his third foul — light contact but contact for sure — he argued with officials. Then, as NBA players love to do, Turner turned to the Pacers’ sideline and demonstratively motioned for Carlisle to call for a review by twirling a finger in the air. Carlisle didn’t look toward his assistants behind the bench, the ones tasked with monitoring potential blown calls; he just looked for a replacement to play the five spot. Turner could only walk to his seat, still angrily twirling his finger.

Then, near the end of the half, after Aaron Nesmith coughed up turnover No. 10 by overdribbling around Boston’s hawk on defense, Derrick White, Haliburton headed back to the sideline with his head bowed. Though the score wasn’t out of hand and the high-scoring Pacers needed just one good run to get back into the game, their beaten-down body language told another story.

“We bounced back decently, got it to six at halftime, but the third [quarter] was tough,” Carlisle said.

During that quarter, the Pacers lost any realistic shot at coming back. And that was before they lost Haliburton.

The play before his departure seemed normal enough, with Haliburton trying to defend Brown on a drive. Though Brown passed on the layup, as Haliburton gave up on defense and backed entirely out of the play, the lane opened for reserve forward Oshae Brissett’s dunk that gave the Celtics an 11-point advantage. Haliburton then backed all the way to the sideline, to the locker room, to the trainer’s table and straight into the next morning’s talking points.

The Pacers are better when they play with their secret sauce of swagger. Some might see it as front-running; when the game’s flowing, Haliburton tilts his head to the heavens and screams or searches out stares on enemy turf and talks junk. But that’s just human nature. Joy comes easier when things are going well. For the Pacers, joy happens when Turner’s attacking the rim for his springboard dunks, McConnell’s harassing opponents for all 94 feet and Siakam’s displaying his interior moves, then his counter moves, looking like he’s losing balance on a sheet of ice but converting anyhow. Joy comes when everyone’s scoring in bunches, because the ball never stays still when Haliburton’s in control.

Now, a sore left hamstring threatens Indiana’s postseason. An Eastern Conference finals stage that was supposed to introduce these Pacers at their best might be taking a turn for the worse.

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