Despite a scare in Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers, the Boston Celtics are now up 2-0 in their first round series in the Eastern Conference.

The first game was a walkover for Boston who easily cruised past Indiana, 84-74, behind a raucous TD Garden crowd. The defense was suffocating from the Celtics in Game 1, as they limited an offensively challenged Pacers team to only eight points in the third quarter.

Game 2 was different, however. The Pacers got strong performances across the board from Bojan Bogdanovic (whose name Shaquille O’Neal could not, for the life of him, pronounce), Myles Turner and even Tyreke Evans.

Indiana led for large swaths of this game, and their lead ballooned to 12 points at one point. Even late in the fourth quarter, Bogdanovic drilled a clutch triple to give the Pacers the advantage. Kyrie Irving was too much in this one, though, as he poured in 37 points, seven assists and six rebounds in 39 minutes — delivering a terrific all-around game in front of the home crowd.

Despite his brilliant effort, however, Irving was subdued and was ready to talk about the next step on the journey: going on the road and facing off against the Pacers on their home court.

Kyrie Irving knows how hard it is to win on the road, and it doesn't help that they are average on away games after finishing the regular season with a 21-20 win-loss record on the road.

Not to mention that the Pacers are one of the best home teams in the league, boasting a 29-12 record at Bankers Life Fieldhouse this 2018-19 campaign.