2024 Playoffs: East Finals | Celtics (1) vs. Pacers (6)

Celtics-Pacers: 4 things to look for in Game 3 of East Finals

Here's what you need to know as the Eastern Conference Finals shifts to Indiana for Game 3.

Steve Aschburner

Archive

May 25, 2024 3:54 PM

Tyrese Haliburton's hamstring injury looms large over the Eastern Conference Finals as the series shifts to Indiana.

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The Boston Celtics had their “Game 2” in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals but survived it.

That’s not good news for the Indiana Pacers

If there was one thing Celtics opponents could rely on in the first two playoff rounds, it was their penchant for disengaging, losing focus and otherwise becoming quite beatable in Game 2. At home no less.

It happened against Miami in the first round and, sure enough, against Cleveland in the conference semis. Average margin of defeat: 17 points. Each time, it evened the series at 1-1 and swiped homecourt advantage from the league’s overall No. 1 seed.

No such outcome for the Pacers. Of the two games played at TD Garden this week, it was the opener in which the Celtics looked the shakiest. They seemed to treat the pillars of that night’s game plan as optional. Three times, Boston blew leads of 10 points or more. The Pacers had the home team right where they wanted it – down three, 10 seconds left, without the ball – and Boston escaped, winning in overtime.

In that moment, a palpable sense of “uh oh” washed over Indiana. It had let the Celtics off what might have been, for them and for everyone following along, a formidable hook.

Now the Pacers are where so many underdog teams before them have found themselves, down 2-0 and desperate for revival in their own building.

Here are four things to look for in Game 3 (8:30 ET, ABC):

1. Seeking Haliburton or the next best option

Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana’s All-NBA guard and their driving force, was listed as questionable on its injury report heading toward tipoff of this one. The lanky point guard hurt his left hamstring in Game 2 and left for the night in the third quarter. For the series? To be determined. It’s the same injury, same leg, Haliburton suffered in early January, one that cost him 10 games. Even if this one’s less severe, it might hamper him or sideline him for Game 3.

The Pacers aren’t without replacements. Backcourt mate Andrew Nembhard has spent about a third of his time in two NBA seasons at point guard. Then there’s sparkplug backup T.J. McConnell, who proved so valuable last round vs. New York.

Haliburton’s minutes likely are covered then. It’s his impact that will be the challenge. Y’know, that making-everyone-else-better point guard thing.

“The ball movement has to be at another level,” McConnell said. “[Haliburton] gets 10 assists in his sleep. It’s hard for another person on our team to replicate that. It’s a group effort when he goes down to kind of get people the ball and get moving.”

Making matters trickier, both members of Boston’s backcourt, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, earned All-Defensive Second Team acclaim.

2. Undefeated vs. unbeaten

Indiana is 6-0 at home this postseason. Boston is 4-0 on the road. Our math teachers made it clear that one of those is going to give in Game 3.

Speaking of “uns,” neither of these trends is unusual nor unbeatable. The Celtics have played like a more serious team when traveling, circling their wagons against boisterous crowds. But they did lose 14 times in other people’s gyms. Indiana barely was .500 (21-20) on the road but transformed when at Gainbridge Fieldhouse (26-15). They were a net 7.6 points per game better at home.

More recently, they used victories in Games 3 and 4 against the Bucks and Knicks to propel them to this point.

“I know that our building will be as loud and live as it’s ever been, it’s race weekend [Indy 500] and everything else going on,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’ve got to take advantage of that.”

3. Tatum locked in

For a Kia MVP candidate and First Team All-NBA choice whose team is 10-2 this spring, Boston’s Jayson Tatum sure has heard criticism lately. He’s putting up 25.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists through 12 playoff games. Only two of the 13 players ahead of him in scoring average still are playing (Luka Doncic and Anthony Edwards).

But teammate Jaylen Brown has been playing with more force lately. Tatum’s shooting has been off – just 43.6%, 26.6% on 3s – and his mellow personality appears to have inhabited his body language and on-court effort. He spotted the Pacers the first, second and fourth quarters in the opener, grateful for five extra minutes of overtime to redeem himself. He needed a second-half revival Thursday, scoring 19 of his 23 after the break.

The focus has been even sharper on Tatum because center Kristaps Porzingis (calf) has been out. The sense on both players, especially now, is that the Celtics can reach the Finals despite the former’s inconsistency and the latter’s absence, but not win there.

Well, Tatum might snap out of it sooner than that. He has scored 30 points or more in 27 of his 106 playoff appearances, including four of his past six road tests.

4. A better Carlisle

The Pacers coach took responsibility for his team’s defeat in Game 1. Specifically, he didn’t call timeout when they had the ball, that three-point lead and just 10 seconds left in regulation. Instead of moving to the frontcourt with more space, Nembhard forced a pass that Pascal Siakam couldn’t handle. An instant later, Brown tied it with a corner 3 to set up Boston’s OT triumph.

On Thursday, Carlisle mass-substituted in the fourth quarter, sitting Siakam, Myles Turner and Aaron Nesmith for most or all of the period. It looked like a premature surrender, though the coach did offer an alternative reason afterward.

“To look at some guys that I thought needed a look,” Carlisle said. “We weren’t giving up, but it was an opportunity to get some energetic fresh guys in there to fight.”

Truth be told, Turner was passive on the glass, with a second straight game of four rebounds, and defending when in foul trouble. Nesmith, frustrated by some whistles, appeared to intentionally commit his fourth foul with 5:20 left in the third quarter Thursday after fouling out of Game 1.

But Boston coach Joe Mazzulla won the Game 2 Xs & Os battle too, going to small lineups as a way to switch defenses and snuff Indiana’s hopes. Little-used forward Oshae Brissett, a former Pacer, was salt in that wound, scoring just one bucket but helping the Celtics go plus-18 in his 12 minutes.

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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.

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