INDIANAPOLIS — The Pacers were without their best player in Game 3 after Tyrese Haliburton was ruled out with a hamstring injury. However, that did not prevent the undermanned roster from making Jaylen Brown and the Celtics sweat. The hosts led by as many as 18 points in the second half before a furious Boston rally secured a 114-111 win.
After a tight Game 1 win, Jaylen Brown was not happy with Boston’s performance against Indiana, particularly on the defensive end. The tone was far different after Game 3 in the locker room where Brown went out of his way to praise his feisty opponent.
“I think Indiana played well,” Brown said. I mean, we could say that we didn’t play as well tonight, but I feel like they just, you had to be out there to kind of feel them, they were just flying around. Then they were shooting the ball well, some of those guys turned into f****** Michael Jordan or whatever. We were like, “What is going on?’ We couldn’t figure it out.”
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The Pacers did do some unique offensive damage against Boston in the first half, scoring a season-high 42 points in the paint before intermission. Andrew Nembhard, Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner all shot above 60 percent from the field while scoring 15 points, leaving Boston’s defense scrambling. Ultimately, the tide began to turn midway through the third quarter as Boston held the hosts to just six points in the final six minutes of the frame, opening the door for a comeback.
“In the fourth quarter, we just stayed close enough, we would just stay right there,” Brown said. “We just kept with, kept saying they’re gonna let us back in the game, they’re gonna let us back in the game. We stayed between 12, 13, 14 points, striking distance and in the fourth quarter, we made some big time plays. Jayson Tatum made some big time plays,”Jayson Tatum made some big time plays, that pass behind the back to the corner to Al, hang it in the ******* Louvre, like it was crazy. We just had a great grit win tonight.”
The victory puts Brown and the Celtics just one win away from getting back to the NBA Finals for the second time in the last three seasons. They will try to clinch that spot on Monday night when they go for a series sweep against the Pacers in Game 4.
“Just can’t take your foot off the gas,” Brown said. “We’ve been in that position before where you get comfortable and you just value every win. It’s hard to win in the playoffs no matter who you’re playing. We just value one game at a time, whatever it takes. One game at a time, play like a team, win like a team, lose like a team and tonight we just stay with it. Now, we’re one game away from getting back to the finals and now we got to close them out.”
