The Boston Celtics are firmly in control of their opening-round series against the Indiana Pacers in the NBA playoffs.

Boston came away with a 99-91 win over the Pacers on Wednesday at the TD Garden to go up 2-0 in their Eastern Conference first-round matchup.

The Pacers appeared to take control in the third quarter as they outscored Boston by 13 and ended the period with a 79-68 advantage.

Boston, however, responded with an 18-3 run in the early stages of the fourth quarter to swing the scoreboard back in their favour.

The teams traded the lead over the next few minutes and Indiana had a chance to tie the score with less than 15 seconds to go. But, Wesley Matthews threw the ball out of bounds. The Pacers also committed a turnover on their next possession, allowing Boston to seal the win.

Meanwhile, the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks trailed the eighth-seeded Detroit Pistons by a point at half-time.

However, Milwaukee pulled away with 35-point third quarter and cruised to a 120-99 victory from there. They also hold a 2-0 lead in the series.

Giannis Antetokounmpo tallied 26 points, 12 rebounds and four assists for the Bucks in the victory.

Elsewhere, the Houston Rockets took an early lead and never looked back in their 118-98 win over the Utah Jazz. 

Houston star James Harden recorded a triple-double, registering 32 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Chris Paul chipped in 17 points. 

Five Jazz players reached double figures in the losing effort, led by Ricky Rubio's 17 points. 

Brilliant Bledsoe

Eric Bledsoe finished with a game-high 27 points and added six assists in Milwaukee's win.

The Pacers had no answers for Celtics star Kyrie Irving. The guard registered 37 points, seven assists and six rebounds in his team's victory.

Smith struggles

Ish Smith came off the bench and scored seven points on three-of-13 shooting in Detroit's loss. He was minus-10 for the game.

Domantas Sabonis made little impact on the scoresheet for the Pacers, attempting just one shot in 22 minutes of action. He averaged 14.1 points in the regular season.

Harden's hard work

Rockets star Harden earned a chance at a four-point play against the Jazz.

Jayson Tatum converted the dunk through contact to finish off Boston's win.

Warriors at Clippers

Los Angeles erased a 31-point deficit and surprisingly tied the matchup at 1-1 with a shocking win in game two to make the series interesting. The Warriors will look to bounce back Thursday at the Staples Center.