The 2024 Eastern Conference Finals tips off on Tuesday evening from Boston, MA (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) as the top seeded Boston Celtics welcome the Indiana Pacers to TD Garden.
The Celtics are coming in on five days rest, after sending the Cleveland Cavaliers home with a 113-98 victory on May 15. The Pacers, meanwhile, have won two consecutive games after taking Games 6 and 7 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the New York Knicks. The Pacers decisively took the final two games of the series, 116-103 and 130-109, in a seventh game at Madison Square Garden that was not particularly close all the way through.
The Pacers won 47 games in the regular season, while the Celtics were consistently the league's best team, finishing with a 64-18 record. The Celtics took three out of the five match-ups this season, including a 155-104 drubbing of the Pacers on Nov. 1, albeit that was without Haliburton suiting up and before the Pascal Siakam deal.
The Pacers lead all playoff teams in points per game through two rounds (114.2) and field-goal percentage (50.7 percent), while the Celtics have shot 48 percent during the postseason and lead all remaining teams in rebounds per game (44.9). The Pacers also led the league in scoring in the regular season (123.3), with the Celtics averaging 120.6. The Celtics were also fifth in points allowed (109.2), second in rebounding (46.3) and were the best at protecting the rim (6.6 blocks).
The Celtics are reliant on the three ball, taking 42.5 per game while shooting 38.8 percent (second by one percentage point in the regular season to the Oklahoma City Thunder). The Pacers also shoot it well from deep at 37.4 percent.
The Celtics' Kristaps Porzingis, who has not played since Game 4 of the Celtics' first round series against the Miami Heat, could return for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Porzingis would be a welcomed addition to a team that will need him for this important stretch. The Celtics in his absence have relied on veteran Al Horford and reserve Luke Kornet. Against the Pacers, Porzingis will be important once he comes back against Myles Turner, providing size, rim protection, and yet another Celtic who can shoot it. The Pacers' Siakam, a one-time champion with the Toronto Raptors (2019) and two-time All-Star, has played well as of late, averaging 22.3 points and 6.3 rebounds on 63 percent shooting over his last three games, including a 25-point, 7-rebound, 5-assist performance in Game 6. It will be important for him to sustain a similar level of play, or even exceed it, against Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
Haliburton, who has ascended to stardom this season, will have a difficult defensive match-up against Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, both of whom are outstanding on that side of the ball. Andrew Nembhard scored 20 points in Game 7 against the Knicks, and will need similar outputs against the Celtics. T.J. McConnell is a key piece off the bench for the Pacers, and also will need to produce at a high level in the series.
To say that the Pacers are an unlikely Eastern Conference Finals participant would be an understatement. The Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, and Knicks all seemed more likely to reach this stage at the beginning of the season, but Haliburton's emergence and injuries opened the door for the Pacers.
This is the Pacers' first conference final appearance since 2014, which was their second consecutive back then after making it there in 2013. They made four conference final appearances in the 1990s (1994-1995, 1998-1999) and made the NBA Finals in 2000. In 2004, they made it back to the conference finals in Rick Carlisle's first season in his first stint with the team (2003-2007). He returned to the Pacer sidelines in 2021, and has led a 22-game turnaround in his first three seasons. Carlisle is also facing a franchise that he played for from 1984-1987.
The Celtics are looking to get back to the NBA Finals for their second time in three years (2022 was their last appearance) and win elusive banner number 18. The Kevin Garnett-Ray Allen-Paul Pierce era teams won one, in 2008, after a 22 year drought, and did make the Finals in 2010. Since, the team has lost five conference finals along with the 2022 NBA Finals.
The Celtics, who have been a juggernaut all season, should win this series. They have the advantages in all areas, and their three-point shooting is something that can really separate them from teams that make games close. The Pacers have an interior edge with Turner, at least until Porzingis returns, but everywhere else, the Celtics have the advantages. Too big, too much shooting, and too much defense. This just might be the series that the Celtics ramp it up in anticipation of another Finals appearance.
Celtics in 5.
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