toThe Boston Celtics came back from an 18-point deficit on Saturday, and won 114-111 against the Indiana Pacers without their star Tyrese Haliburton, who is absent due to a muscle injury, to take a 3-0 lead in the series and reserve a spot. Themselves only one victory in the second NBA Finals in three years.
And with 36 points, ten rebounds and eight assists from Jayson Tatum and 23 points and seven threes from Dominican Al Horford, who also shined with three blocks, the Celtics left the Pacers team failing again, despite playing a game characterized by exceptional commitment.
But the Celtics team led by Joe Mazzola, the best team in the regular season with 64 wins and 18 losses, knew how to find the way to victory despite a night full of highs and lows, relied on its defense in crucial moments and found Jrue Holiday a goal. The main man to keep them alive.
Boston’s players have won all five of their away games in the postseason, and they will have their first playoff point on Monday, again at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, to return to the NBA Finals stage.
Tatum took it a step further, reading the important moments of the game, distributing the game and giving rhythm to his teammates, such as Horford who had the best scoring night of his career from the net (7 of 12).
The 37-year-old Dominican appeared in crucial moments for the Celtics, making some great saves on Obi Toppin and a powerful three-pointer that put the Celtics within two points with one minute left in the game.
Jaylen Brown contributed 24 points and Holiday finished with fourteen points, nine assists and three steals, the last of which was a starter on the Pacers’ last possible possession, down 111-112.
Holiday came into this game not at his best and did not participate in practice this morning before the game, but he worked his way up and ended up being the protagonist of a night in which the Pacers shot with 63% accuracy in the first half and led by 18 points in the third period.
Rick Carlisle’s team dominated the paint, led by 32 points and nine assists from Andrew Nembhard, 22 points and ten rebounds from Myles Turner and 22 points from Pascal Siakam.
However, Nembhard, who also made four threes, finished off the game with a loose ball to Holiday that was crucial to the Celtics’ victory.
The Pacers lost for the first time at home in the postseason, after six of six complete games. They were without their captain, Tyrese Haliburton, who retired due to a left thigh injury in the second game of the series.
The Celtics are 3-0 and one step away from the Finals. Mazzola’s team has everything going for it, in fact teams that have that kind of advantage in a series of ‘playoffs’ almost always end up leading in the last 154 games.
Interestingly, the Celtics were on the verge of breaking that statistic last year, when they went from 0-3 to 3-3 in the Eastern Conference finals to the Miami Heat, before losing Game 7 at home.
“Analyst. Web buff. Wannabe beer trailblazer. Certified music expert. Zombie lover. Explorer. Pop culture fanatic.”