The Eastern Conference Finals proved to be a greater test than many might have expected, but, nonetheless, the Boston Celtics completed the sweep and advanced to the NBA Finals for the second time in three seasons. The Indiana Pacers proved to be a worthy opponent, pushing the Celtics deep into the fourth quarter in three of their four matchups, but in Game 4, the Celtics came up with the necessary answers in crunch time, winning 105-102.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics in scoring with 29 points, making huge plays in the fourth quarter to drive the Celtics to the win. Jayson Tatum added another stat-sheet stuffing performance, scoring 26 points, grabbing 13 rebounds and dishing eight assists. Derrick White snagged five steals and blocked three shots, while putting the dagger in the Pacers with the game-deciding three-pointer. For Indiana, Andrew Nembhard had another big game in relief of the injured Tyrese Haliburton with 24 points, and Pascal Siakam added 19 and 10 rebounds.
The Celtics found their rhythm from behind the arc early in this game, shooting 5-of-10 from three-point range in the first quarter. Behind the hot shooting, the offense looked comfortable early, getting to their spots effectively against Indiana’s defense. The Pacers kept pace, though, with a balanced scoring attack and their customarily high level of effort making it difficult for the Celtics to shake them. McConnell carried Indiana with eight early points, including a layup at the buzzer, and the Celtics led by just two points heading into the second quarter, 29-27.
As the second quarter carried on, it was clear that there was no blowout to be found for the Celtics. The Pacers continued to fight, getting after the Celtics as coach Rick Carlisle promised they would and fighting Boston to a stalemate for another quarter. Nembhard built on his 32-point performance in Game 3 with 16 first half points tonight (including a buzzer-beating 14-footer), and Siakam added 13 of his own. Behind a strong first half from Tatum, who had 16 of his own, though, the Celtics maintained a one-point advantage heading into the halftime break, 58-57.
Turner opened the second half with a pair of three-pointers — his first two made shots of the game — giving the Pacers their largest lead of the night with a modest five-point advantage. The Celtics countered with a pair of buckets in the paint, but another three from Nembhard and a mid-range pull-up shot from Nesmith prompted an early timeout from Joe Mazzulla, seeking to cut off some of Indiana’s momentum.
They responded with a three-pointer from Tatum and a fast break dunk from White, before Brown and Turner got tangled up on an Indiana possession. Turner caught a whistle for an offensive foul, after which Brown pushed him and Turner responded with a stronger shove. The duo were each handed with technical fouls, with Turner’s initial foul being upheld. Turner flirted with ejection moments later, after picking up another offensive foul and slamming the ball on the ground in frustration, but the refs held their whistles and he remained in the game.
The theatrics overshadowed what was otherwise a defense-forward third quarter for both teams. Both teams fell short of their lofty offensive levels from previous games, instead falling into a rock fight for much of the frame. Indiana maintained a narrow advantage throughout, though the Celtics prevented them from extending their lead beyond five points. Boston entered the final quarter trailing by three, 83-80.
The Celtics tied the game on a three from Brown to open the fourth quarter, but T.J. McConnell made three consecutive two-point buckets to respond with a personal 6-2 run sandwiched around a Tatum layup. Brown’s three was subsequently taken off the board after a replay review determined the shot came after the shot clock expired, giving the Celtics a seven-point deficit with just over 10 minutes to play, during a Mazzulla timeout.
Brown made amends immediately, corralling an offensive rebound after a missed three from Hauser and, after a scuffle on the floor, cashing in on a three-pointer that counted for real. Indiana continued to push, with Siakam scoring off of an offensive rebound of his own and Nembhard completing an and-one to push their lead to a game-high nine points with just under nine minutes to play.
Brown answered the Indiana run with a corner three, but moments later, he was involved in a more crucial sequence. After a missed three-pointer from Nembhard, McConnell corralled an offensive rebound and, in an attempt to make a play on the ball, Brown hit McConnell hard in the face. McConnell hit the floor hard, and the play was reviewed by the officials to determine if it should be upgraded from a loose ball foul to a flagrant. In a lucky break, though, they determined that it did not reach the level of a flagrant 1. McConnell remained in the game and missed a shot on the next possession, and Holiday followed with a layup to cut the Indiana lead to four points with just under seven minutes left in regulation.
Coming out of timeout, two buckets from Nesmith restored an eight-point edge for the Pacers. Brown responded with a pair of free throws, before Tatum cashed in on a step-back three-pointer to once again bring the lead back within one possession. After Tatum drew a whistle for an offensive foul — his fifth foul of the night — the two teams traded buckets, leaving the score at 102-98 favoring the Pacers as the game ticked into crunch time with 3:33 remaining in regulation, with Mazzulla taking a timeout after a layup from Siakam.
Coming out of the timeout, the Jays quickly tied the game, as Tatum and Brown both converted paint touches to even things up at 102 apiece. The defenses locked in, forcing a rare scoreless stretch for almost two minutes of in-game time that saw several frantic, missed shot attempts before Pacers coach Rick Carlisle called timeout with 1:09 remaining on the clock.
Coming out of the timeout, Brown swatted a shot attempt from Nembhard and White broke the tie with a corner three-pointer, finally returning the lead to the Celtics with 45 seconds remaining in the game. This proved to be the dagger — Nembhard missed a pull-up three-pointer with 33 seconds remaining. The Pacers never got the ball back from that point, with an offensive rebound from Holiday sealing the deal.
Next up, the Celtics will await the victor of the Western Conference Finals, facing either the Dallas Mavericks or the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, June 6 at 8:30 EST.
