INDIANKeynote USAOLIS — A year ago, the Boston Celtics found themselves in a 3-0 hole in the Eastern Conference finals, only to then win three straight games and nearly pull off a historic comeback.
So, as the Celtics now stand on the precipice of advancing to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years after escaping Game 3 with a win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday, Boston is aware that its job is far from done heading into Game 4 on Monday night.
“The numbers are literally reversed,” coach Joe Mazzulla said when asked what he and the Celtics can learn from last year’s experience. “But I think it’s a situation… when you’re in any situation, sometimes you find out why you’re in it a day later, a week later, a month later, sometimes a year later.
“So I think it’s more important to focus on the position we were in last year, what can we learn from that? And I think the position we’re in now is, ‘Okay, this is why we had to go through What we had to go through was gaining experience, gaining the mentality, gaining the pain, all the things that involved that’ and trying to use it for this. perspective to understand what we’ve been through and try to use it to get where we want to go.
Featured
1 related
Where Boston wants to go is the NBA Finals. The Celtics have failed to get there several times lately, advancing to the Eastern Finals in five of the previous seven seasons but only reaching the NBA Finals in 2022.
This season, however, the Celtics have been the NBA’s dominant team from the beginning. Boston won a league-leading 64 games, had an all-time net rating of plus-11.7 points per 100 possessions and finished first in offensive rating and second in defensive rating.
The Celtics have continued to blow away the competition in the playoffs, posting an 11.4 net rating in 13 games along with an 11-2 record – impressive numbers, although Boston has faced the Jimmy Butler-less Miami Heat of the Cleveland Cavaliers. without Jarrett Allen and Donovan Mitchell and the Pacers now without Tyrese Haliburton.
Indiana coach Rick Carlisle declined to elaborate on Haliburton’s status for Game 4, but he made it clear that the Pacers did not intend for the upcoming game to be a coronation ceremony for Boston. Upon learning that the NBA was making logistical preparations for Monday night’s trophy presentation in case the Celtics concluded the series, Carlisle asked the Pacers to use that as motivation.
“That’s something that should make the blood of our players and our fans boil,” he said Sunday. “It’s just another layer of motivation to extend the series.”
The Pacers led by as many as 18 points in Game 3 with Haliburton watching from the sideline after aggravating the left hamstring injury that bothered him in early January, and Carlisle promised after the game that night that Indiana would attack Boston even harder on Monday to keep their season alive.
“The final games are always the hardest,” Celtics guard Derrick White said. “We don’t expect them to give up and give up, but you have to be a little better. You have to execute a little better. You have to compete a little more. Then they will play for their season. So it will definitely be a challenge. Any playoff series, “Anything can change in a game, so it’s going to be a big one.”
As Boston looks to wrap up the series on Monday, its focus from a defensive standpoint is trying to thwart Indiana’s two-point shots. Through the first three games, the Pacers made 48 of 88 two-point shots from beyond 8 feet, according to Second Spectrum tracking data — a percentage of 55%, which would be the second-best mark by a team in a series. of playoffs. the last 10 seasons.
Both Jaylen Brown and Mazzulla said after Saturday’s game that some of Indiana’s shooting is simply a credit to the Pacers, with Brown joking that “some of those guys turned into fucking Michael Jordan or whatever.” A big concern for Boston is NBA.com data showing Indiana shooting an astonishing 74% from the restricted area (52 of 70) in the series.
One thing that could help Boston’s rim defense is the return of Kristaps Porzingis, but that won’t happen in Game 4. The 7-foot-3 center, who has been out for nearly four weeks since suffering a strain in his calf in Game 4 of Boston’s first-round series victory over the Heat has been ruled out for Monday’s game.
Keynote USA’s Jamal Collier contributed to this report.
Keynote USA
For the Latest Sports News, Follow @Keynote USA Sports on Twitter.