Pacers pound Celtics to kick off NBA playoffs

Ron Artest also scored 24 points for the top-seeded Pacers, who started their quest towards earning their second berth in the NBA Finals in five seasons on a positive note.

The Pacers, who took three of the four meetings with the Celtics during the season, improved to 35-7 at home this season.

Paul Pierce collected 20 points and 10 boards for the eighth-seeded Celtics, who backed into the playoffs after dropping five of their last six games of the regular season.

The game was tied up 35-35 early in the second quarter, but the Pacers responded with a 15-1 run and they never looked back. Al Harrington capped off the burst on a bucket with 5:33 left in the frame to put the Pacers ahead, 50-36.

Harrington, who averaged just 3.0 points in last season’s first-round playoff loss to Boston, added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers.

The Celtics played tough in the first quarter only trailing 30-29 after the opening 12 minutes. But Boston was outscored 35-14 in the second and went into the intermission down 65-43.

After shooting 55 percent from the field in the first quarter, the Celtics were actually outshot 52 percent to 36 percent from the field in the first half.

For the game, The Pacers shot 46 percent from the field, won the rebound margin 46-38 and forced 22 Boston turnovers.

The Pacers led by as many as 29 in the second half as they cruised to the victory.

In the fourth, Boston tallied 12 unanswered points to trim the deficit to 92-76 on a Ricky Davis basket with 8:11 remaining, but it was too little too late.

Davis and Chucky Atkins each finished with 19 points for Boston.

This is a best-of-seven series, with Game 2 scheduled for Tuesday at Indiana.

This is the fourth first round playoff meeting between the two teams, as the Celtics walked away with a win in all four previous meetings. Indiana team president Larry Bird helped Boston defeat the Pacers in a classic five-game series in 1991 before sweeping Indiana the following year.