Up against it. Or not.

 OK. So now we know what we know, I guess.

We know the Boston Celtics didn't win 64 games during the regular season through sorcery or fairy dust or some leprechaun alchemy, the still-potent essence of Bill Russell 'n' them inhabiting the bodies of Jayson Tatum 'n' them.

We know they're good, damn good, and they don't quit even when for long stretches it looks to be the other guy's night.

We know, finally, that the Indiana Pacers can hit them with everything they have, and the Celtics are still going to extract the W because everything the Pacers had wasn't quite enough this time.

What else can you say about Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals, except that the Celtics escaped with a 133-128 win in overtime?

That the Pacers shot 53 percent, made 13 threes, out-boarded Boston and still lost?

That they put seven players in double figures, and three of their five starters scored 23 (Myles Turner), 24 (Pascal Siakam) and 25 points (Tyrese Haliburton), and, yep, they still lost?

That they lost because Tatum went for 36 for Boston, and Jrue Holiday for 28, and Jaylen Brown for 26? That they lost because, as well as they played, they turned the ball over 21 times, and were especially sloppy when it mattered most?

Well ... yes. You can say all of that.

You can also say this means there's no way the Pacers can win this series -- or you can say if they play that well and don't boot the rock 21 times (which isn't likely to happen again), they're perfectly capable of taking it the distance and maybe even winning it by stealing Game 7 in Boston the way they stole Game 7 in New York. This record has two sides.

Me, I'm inclined to believe the latter, up until the "stealing Game 7" part. I don't think that will happen. I don't think it even gets to that point unless the Pacers can duplicate what they did in Game 1, minus the 21 turnovers.

That's an Everest of an order, frankly. Which is why I think, if it doesn't go seven games, the Celtics wrap it in five.

Here's to the Pacers proving me wrong. Please do, gentlemen.