The Boston Celtics, led by Jayson Tatum’s 36 factors, overcame an 18-point deficit to defeat the Indiana Pacers 114-111 on Saturday, taking a commanding 3-0 lead within the NBA Eastern Conference finals.
But the shift got here when the Celtics discovered a approach to decelerate Indiana’s high-octane offense within the second half to grab the win in Indianapolis, the place they will attempt to shut out the sequence Monday.
“Closeout games are the hardest,” Tatum stated, cautioning that the Celtics cannot afford to chill out even if no NBA workforce has rallied from 0-3 all the way down to win a playoff sequence.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle actually wasn’t able to wave the white flag.
“We’re going to be undeterred, we’re going to be back here Monday night looking to extend the series and we’re going to come at them even harder,” vowed Carlisle, who stated the Pacers performed “a courageous game.”
Indiana, who have been unbeaten in six prior dwelling video games this post-season, got here out decided to keep away from the 0-3 gap regardless of the absence of All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton, who aggravated the left hamstring pressure that troubled him this season in recreation two.
Andrew Nembhard, taking up at level guard, scored 32 factors and handed out 9 assists and Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner scored 22 apiece for the Pacers, who pushed their result in 18 within the second quarter and once more within the third.
But a 3-point play by Jrue Holiday, who was fouled on a driving layup and made the free throw, put the Celtics up 112-111 with 38.9 seconds to play.
It was their first lead for the reason that first moments of the second quarter they usually made it get up, Holiday developing with a decisive steal from Nembhard and making a pair of free throws to seal it.
“I think the and-one I just saw the opportunity,” stated Holiday, who was questionable to start out due to sickness till shortly earlier than the sport. “I think Siakam was on his heels so I just attacked him and got the and-one.”
Despite the absence of Haliburton, the Pacers acquired their offense firing and erased an early nine-point deficit, exploding within the second quarter to construct their first 18-point lead of the competition.
Another degree
Nembhard scored 17 factors within the second quarter and the Pacers linked on 15 of their 22 shot makes an attempt to surge previous the Celtics.
With 21 factors by half time Nembhard had already surpassed his profession playoff excessive.
He drilled an extended 3-pointer with lower than 5 seconds left within the first half to provide the Pacers a 69-57 lead on the break.
Indiana have been up by 18 once more halfway by the third, however Boston bore down defensively and reeled them in.
It remained to be seen if Haliburton might be accessible for recreation 4 on Monday.
“It was determined that tonight was not an option,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle stated earlier than the sport, saying Haliburton can be reassessed earlier than recreation 4.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla stated the absence of Haliburton had left Boston struggling to regulate to early on.
“It took us a little while to figure out how we were going to match up with them in order to slow them down,” he stated. “I felt like it was our defense, and I thought we took it to another level in the second half.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com
