The task was much tougher than expected, but the Boston Celtics walked out of Game 4 with a 3-0 lead over the shorthanded Indiana Pacers.
Led by Jayson Tatum with 36 points, the East’s top seed erased an 18-point deficit to break the Indiana Pacers’ hearts with a 114-111 win in the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday. Game 4 is scheduled for Monday at 8 p.m. ET.
No team has come back from down 3-0 in a series in NBA history.
The Pacers entered the game without Tyrese Haliburton, who exited Game 3 with a hamstring injury and was ruled out hours before Game 4. He was capably replaced by Andrew Nembhard, who posted a Haliburton-esque night with a career-high 32 points on 12-of-21 shooting and nine assists.
That, combined with 20+ points from Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner and bench hero T.J. McConnell, looked like it would be enough.
Instead, the Celtics steadily chipped away throughout the second half, taking the lead in the final minute on a Jrue Holiday and-1.
Holiday, who was questionable for the game due to an illness, haunted the Celtics again on what could have been a game-winning possession, stripping Nembhard for a steal with four seconds left.
The Pacers appeared well on their way to narrowing the series to 2-1 for the majority of the game. The Gainbridge Fieldhouse was certainly feeling it, but by the time the officials were reviewing whether a clear path foul was committed against Holiday, the stadium was dead quiet. The review went the Pacers’ way, but Holiday still got two free throws, which he made to go up three points with 1.7 seconds left.
That still gave Indiana got one last chance to tie a game where they led by double digits for much of two quarters. It opted to run what looked like a football play, which succeeded in getting a running Nembhard the ball at the perimeter, but his buzzer-beating attempt clanked away to end the game.
Carlisle was irate as the Celtics celebrated due to some contact on Nembhard, but no whistle came.
