Eastern Conference Finals: Celtics Enter NBA Finals After 4-0 Sweep Over Pacers
Boston Celtics completed a 4-0 sweep over Indiana Pacers to enter the NBA Finals on Monday evening in Indianapolis.
This was the third time in four games that the Indiana Pacers found themselves with a lead at the close of the fourth period. For the third consecutive time, the Celtics erased it and finished the game on a winning note.
Boston fought back from an 89-82 deficit going into the final period on Monday evening, registering a 105-102 victory over the Pacers to repeat the previous game’s thrilling come-from-behind victory.
This marks the end of the 4-0 shuttling of the Eastern Conference finals, shooting the Celtics to the NBA finals. The focus will now shift to Boston as they are left to face either the Dallas Mavericks or the Minnesota Timberwolves for the NBA championship.
As of now, the Mavericks are favorites to join them in the finals as they lead the West Conference Finals series 3-0 against the Timberwolves in this best-of-seven series of the Western Conference finals. A win in Game 4 tonight will confirm their berth in the NBA Finals.
Derrick White secures Celtics comeback
The closest margin for Boston came with 1:05 left in the fourth quarter, after which the teams were tied at 102-102 by a Jaylen Brown floater. With just over two minutes to go, the score was tied at 100-Vinny Oliver answered a three-point play by the Nets to give start the first Celtic lead of the quarter at 105-102 on a three-pointer with 43 seconds left in the fourth. 9 seconds remaining.
This turned out to be the final basket of the match and of the series offering the Celtics another upset win over Indiana, a repeat of the previous game. Boston defeated Indiana which would not have been a surprise as the Pacers were without All-NBA guard Tyrese Haliburton in the second consecutive match due to a ham- penis injury that ruled him out for Games 3 and 4.
The Pacers who appeared to dominate the game and seemed sure of making the game reach a fifth game seemed to have lost their steam in the last minutes of the game. With the Celtics closing the gap, Pascal Siakam hit a layup in traffic to extend Indiana’s lead to 102-98 with 3:32 remaining. This was the last time the Pacers scored, otherwise, the game was fully packed with enthusiasm, energy, and excitement.
As expected, Pacers’ offense climax was stifled too late — again
Over the last 3:32, the Pacers went 0 for four from the field and committed two turnovers. Andrew Nembhard attempted a 3-point shot to tie the game on the last possession, matching White’s miss, with 32.1 seconds remaining. The ball went to Jayson Tatum of the Celtics and Indiana never saw the ball for the rest of the period.
For the Pacers, the conclusion was sheer frustration that defined the series overall. They could have won by leading Game 1 in Boston 115-110 in the last two minutes but they lost in overtime. They controlled Saturday’s game 3 at home 18/6; however, they choked a 9-point fourth-quarter lead to lose 114-11 to Celtics.
Monday’s defeat was a continuation of the same pattern. Indiana was a possession away from being able to win any one of those three games. Still both times the Celtics were able to make some crucial plays to come out on top and clinch the series.
