Brown shines as Celtics take 2-0 lead over Pacers, Haliburton hurt

LOS ANGELES: Jaylen Brown scored 40 points to propel Boston to a 126-110 victory over Indiana and a 2-0 lead in the NBA Eastern Conference finals over a Pacers team rocked by an injury to Tyrese Haliburton.

Brown tied a career playoff high to help the top-seeded Celtics break their game-two jinx.

Winners of a league-best 64 regular-season games, Boston had dropped the second game before prevailing in each of the first two rounds.

But they head to Indianapolis for game three on Saturday in control of the best-of-seven series.

The Pacers have excelled at home, but now have concerns over All-Star point guard Haliburton, who departed late in the third quarter with a left hamstring injury and didn't return.

Brown, who sank a three-pointer to force overtime as the Celtics held off the Pacers in a game-one thriller, scored 10 points in a 20-0 Celtics run that saw Boston take the lead for good in the second quarter.

"It's the playoffs, man," Brown said. "Whatever it takes to get a 'W' - on defense, on offence - that's what I'm going to do."

"He has it going," Jrue Holiday said of his teammate.

"Great player, great leader, but wants to win and takes things into his own hands. Having a guy like that on my side, I love it. I'll ride for him."

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said that even though the box score reflected just two assists for Brown, he did a good job of keeping his teammates involved on offense.

"He made the right play - that's the most important thing," Mazzulla said.

Indiana emerged from a tight first quarter that featured 10 lead changes with a 27-25 advantage.

But Holiday's three-pointer in the final minute of the opening period launched Boston's scoring binge and they were up 42-27 midway through the second.

The Celtics pushed the