by Wheat Hotchkiss
The Pacers put together an impressive performance for much of Saturday night. Even without injured All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana got big nights from the likes of Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell, built a double-digit lead by halftime and led the top-seeded Boston Celtics by as many as 18 points in the second half of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
But Boston charged back, closing the game with a 13-2 run to come away with a 114-111 victory to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The Pacers now will need to win on Monday night in Game 4 to avoid elimination.
Nembhard was spectacular in the loss, scoring 32 points on 12-of-21 shooting and dishing out nine assists, but had a turnover in the final seconds with the Pacers down one.
Jayson Tatum led Boston with 36 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists, going 12-for-23 from the field, 5-for-10 from 3-point range, and 7-for-11 from the free throw line. Jaylen Brown added 24 points and Al Horford scored 23 points while going 7-for-12 from beyond the arc, but it was veteran point guard Jrue Holiday that came through in the clutch.
Holiday scored the go-ahead basket with 39.4 seconds remaining, then stripped the ball from Nembhard in the closing seconds to seal the victory.
The Pacers led by as many as 18 points in the third quarter, but Boston managed to whittle the margin down to nine by the end of the frame.
The Celtics continued to climb back in the ensuing minutes, opening the final frame with a 9-3 run capped by Horford’s sixth 3-pointer of the night that made it 93-90 with 8:29 remaining.
McConnell and Nembhard provided some much-needed breathing room with McConnell burying a fall-away jumper from the right baseline at 7:15 and then Nembhard driving left and converting a reverse layup at 6:40.
Boston got back within four following Brown’s dunk with 4:05 remaining, but Nembhard and McConnell took turns knocking down threes from the right corner and keep a little cushion for the Blue & Gold.
Jayson Tatum’s three cut the lead to 109-106 with 1:41 to play. On the other end, Nembhard drove and drew a foul on Derrick White, then sank both free throws with 1:26 left.
On the other end, Tatum threw a behind-the-back dish to Horford in the left corner. The veteran big man knocked down his seventh three of the night to make it a two-point game with 1:12 remaining.
Siakam missed a layup on the other end before Holiday bulled his way to paint and converted a basket through contact from Siakam. He made the free throw to complete the three-point play and give Boston a 112-111 lead with 38.9 seconds to play.
Out of a timeout, Nembhard missed a runner and Boston secured the rebound. With an eight-second difference between the game clock and the shot clock, the Pacers opted not to foul.
After running down the shot clock, Tatum drove left and was met at the rim by Siakam. Nembhard secured the rebound and opted to push the break rather than call timeout. He tried to drive on Holiday at the top of the key, but the second-team All-Defensive team guard poked the ball away with his left hand.
Siakam got to Holiday to foul him with 1.7 seconds remaining. After Holiday hit both free throws, the Pacers used their final timeout to set up a final play. Nesmith got an open look from the right wing, but his shot bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
McConnell finished with 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting, nine rebounds, and six assists in 29 minutes off the bench for Indiana. Myles Turner recorded a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Siakam had 22 and six assists.
Haliburton was ruled out hours before the game due to a left hamstring injury that he suffered in Game 2 on Thursday night in Boston. Carlisle said that Haliburton really wanted to play, but the decision was “taken out of his hands.” His status for Game 4 is uncertain.
“Our guys played a courageous game,” Carlisle said. “Nembhard was great. Pascal was great. Turner was great. McConnell, what can you say about him. Our bench guys fought. We came up a little short tonight, but we will be back on Monday and we will be punching even harder.”
The Celtics were red-hot to start Game 3, hitting their first six shots. Tatum was responsible for three of them, scoring eight points as Boston jumped out to an early 16-9 lead.
But playing without Haliburton, the Pacers made a conscious effort to attack the rim throughout the opening quarter, whether that was feeding the ball inside to Siakam and Turner when they were matched up on smaller defenders, or attacking the basket off the dribble.
Siakam scored 11 points and Turner added eight in the opening frame, which Indiana closed with an 8-2 run to trim the deficit to 32-31. 26 of the Pacers’ points in the first quarter were scored in the paint, with the other five coming from the free throw line.
On the other end, the Celtics went 12-for-21 from the field and 5-for-11 from 3-point range in the first quarter, with Tatum scoring 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting (2-of-4 from beyond the arc).
Turner scored four more points and Siakam added another bucket as the Blue & Gold opened the second quarter with an 8-2 spurt to take the lead for the first time.
A little later in the frame, Indiana reeled off another 15-4 run thanks to Nembhard (who scored five points in the sequence) and McConnell (who assisted on four baskets and scored two more) to stretch the margin to 59-44 with 4:19 remaining in the opening half.
They stretched the lead as high as 66-49 following Nembhard’s layup with 1:20 to go in the half. Boston scored eight straight points to get back within single digits briefly, but Nembhard buried a deep three just before halftime to get the lead back to 12.
Indiana shot 63.6 percent from the field and outscored Boston 42-18 in points in the paint over the first two quarters.
Nembhard scored 21 points in the first half on 8-of-10 shooting (3-of-3 from 3-point range) while also dishing out eight assists. Siakam and Turner added 15 points apiece on a combined 12-for-18 shooting.
“I just wanted to get the pace going,” Nembhard said of his mentality sliding over to point guard in Haliburton’s absence. “I think we play best when everybody’s touching it, we’re all moving, and we’re playing our Pacers hoops. I just wanted to not necessarily force the issue, but just let it come to me.”
Siakam and Turner each scored on the Pacers’ first two possessions of the second half to push the lead back to 16.
The hosts led by a comfortable margin for most of the third quarter, but Boston capitalized on some sloppy play by Indiana late in the frame, using a 10-2 to cut the deficit to 88-81 before Doug McDermott tipped in a Nembhard miss in the final second to make it a nine-point game entering the fourth quarter.
The Celtics ultimately completed their comeback in the final frame.
“They just didn’t go away,” McConnell said. “You’ve got to give credit where credit’s due. They kept chipping away and just made one more play than we did.”
The loss was the Pacers’ first at Gainbridge Fieldhouse this postseason. They had gone 6-0 at home in the playoffs prior to Saturday and hadn’t lost a game in the building since March 18.
Now, Indiana faces elimination for the third time this postseason. They won two games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against New York after falling behind 3-2 in the series.
“We’re going to come at these guys harder on Monday,” Carlisle said. “Our fans need to come out and be louder than they’ve ever been, and we’ve got to extend the series and get back on the plane for Game 5. That’s what we’ve got to do.”
Inside the Numbers
Indiana outscored the Celtics 68-40 in points in the paint.
The Pacers went just 5-for-22 from 3-point range (22.7 percent). Nembhard was 4-for-7, but the rest of the team was 1-for-15 from beyond the arc. Boston went 16-for-46 (34.8 percent), outscoring Indiana by 33 points from long distance.
Indiana committed just 11 turnovers, but the Celtics converted them into 20 points on the other end. The Pacers scored 13 points off of nine Boston turnovers.
McConnell set new playoff career highs for points (23) and rebounds (nine).
Turner recorded his third double-double of the playoffs and his second this series (he also had 23 points and 10 boards in Game 1 on Tuesday in Boston).
Horford’s seven 3-pointers were the most the 37-year-old big man has ever made in an NBA game. Prior to Saturday, Horford had played 1,078 regular season games and 179 playoff games and never made more than six threes.
Tatum surpassed 30 points for the fourth time in his last six contests.
You Can Quote Me on That
“So proud of our guys and how they competed from start to finish. Our thing all year has been just compete level and bring everything you can and all that, and they did. …. We’re going to be back here Monday night looking to extend the series. We’re going to come at them even harder. We have to, we don’t have a choice.” -Carlisle on the team’s effort
“I thought we did a good job in the first half. The second half, not as much. They made runs and we weren’t able to come back and have that same intensity. We had a couple turnovers. Against a team like that, no lead is safe. We’ve got to play well to the end.” -Siakam on what changed in the second half
“Our pace, especially in transition — makes or misses, getting it out and attacking the rim — I thought it was really good in the first half. We continued to try to do that in the second half, but they made adjustments. We got there a little bit, but not as much as we would like.” -McConnell on the offense in the first half versus the second
“We have a lot of guys stepping up into bigger minutes in Tyrese’s absence. We slowed down a little bit down the stretch, and that’s the time of game, where we’re set up right now, we’ve got to keep tempo in the game. That’s something that we have to do. We missed some shots and there were some plays they could have gone a different way – that’s the best I can say it. I’m just very disappointed.” -Carlisle on what changed in the fourth quarter
“Just one of those things where it was next guy up. I think Andrew Nembhard took his game to another level tonight. But he’s been playing at a high level all year and has really stepped his game up in the postseason. We aren’t in that position without him.” -McConnell on Nembhard filling in for Haliburton
“I’m proud of his growth. It’s a tough game when our starting point guard is not in the game and you learn that before the game. It takes a lot of just maturity and growth to be able to step in there and play the way that he did tonight. He was incredible, controlling the pace of the game, getting people to their spots. That’s something that he’s always been able to do. And I think every time he has an opportunity, he’s shown it. Tonight was another night where he showed that he belongs and he’s a big part of our team.” -Siakam on Nembhard’s performance
“I think he did a good job in transition of just whoever was on getting right to the front of the rim and creating that advantage. Him putting that pressure on the defense allows everybody to kind of flatten up the floor and it gives more space for everyone on the perimeter. He did a good job of establishing that.” -Nembhard on Turner’s success in the post
“It’s a must-win for us. We’ve got to give everything that we have. To this point, we’ve had an incredible season and nobody wants to see it end. We’re going to fight to the end. I think for us, it’s just let’s get one game. We can’t look ahead. Whatever is in front of us don’t matter. We’ve got to focus on the next game and give everything we have to win that game.” -Siakam on the mentality heading into Game 4
“Obviously this one stings, but there’s no guy in this locker room that’s packed it in. We’re going to try to get one here and extend this series and then go back to Boston and try to make things difficult. There’s no guy in this locker room that’s going to quit. I’ll tell you that much.” -McConnell on the team’s mentality
Stat of the Night
Nembhard’s 32 points were not only a playoff career high, they were his most in any game in his career. His previous high was 31 points as a rookie at Golden State on Dec. 5, 2022 (in another game that Haliburton missed). That was the only time prior to Saturday that he had scored more than 25 points.
Noteworthy
Celtics backup center Luke Kornet missed the game due to a left wrist sprain he suffered in Game 2. Starting center Kristaps Porzingis was out once again with a right soleus strain and has not played since Game 4 in the first round against Miami.
Celebrities in attendance included former Colts punter and ESPN personality Pat McAfee (who “revved up” the crowd at the start of the game), actor Dylan Sprouse, supermodel Barbara Palvin, and rapper Flavor Flav.
No team in NBA history has overcome a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series. The Pacers are 0-4 all-time when facing that deficit and have forced Game 5 once in those four series.
Up Next
The Pacers and Celtics will meet again at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for Game 4 on Monday, May 27 at 8:00 PM ET.
Originally posted on pacers.com