INDIANAPOLIS — When Boston Celtics legend Cedric Maxwell read Larry Bird Trophy winner Jaylen Brown’s name as Eastern Conference Finals MVP, no one seemed more surprised than Brown himself.
“I didn’t expect it at all,” Brown would say later, with the trophy sitting next to him on the podium after Boston’s 105-102 Game 4 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night, before adding with a wide grin, “I never win shit—.”
But it was Brown who made two plays in the final 65 seconds – first blocking Andrew Nembhard’s shot to the rim, then getting into the lane and feeding the ball to Derrick White for what became the 3 winning points with 41 seconds left, a shot that gave Boston the lead for the first time since the first possession of the second half – which allowed the Celtics to escape this series with a sweep and return to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years. .
“I’m just happy we won,” Brown continued. “And give Indiana credit, they played us hard. I know people think Indiana wasn’t a good team or anything, but I thought they were as tough as n No matter who we played against all season, they were physical, they were fast, they put a lot of pressure on us, so shout out to them and respect them.
The Pacers, playing a second straight game without All-NBA guard Tyrese Haliburton, certainly gave Boston all they could handle. After leading the Celtics by as many as 18 points in the second half of Game 3 on Saturday night before Boston came back and won in the final seconds, Indiana took the lead in the second half Monday on a 3 points from Myles Turner to open the third. quarter and never trailed again until White’s corner 3 fell.
At that point, Nembhard — who was brilliant for a second straight game as Haliburton’s backup, recording 24 points and 10 assists in 38 minutes — missed his own game-tying hat trick. Then, after Jayson Tatum – who finished with 26 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists – missed a game-sealing 3 at the other end, Jrue Holiday gobbled up Boston’s offensive rebound, letting time expire and the Celtics to celebrate. .
“It’s special,” Tatum said of qualifying for the NBA Finals for the second time in his career. “Even though we’ve been there before, most of us have, you don’t take it for granted. We were excited.
“That was a hell of a team we just played against, they made us win every game and we are extremely grateful to advance to the final.”
It was a fitting win for the Celtics, one that saw several players take turns playing. Brown finished with 29 points and 6 rebounds, his scoring barrage in the second half helping to keep Boston in the game and ultimately secure the victory. Tatum had a bucket and grabbed three defensive rebounds late after picking up his fifth foul midway through the fourth.
And then there was White who, despite going 1 out of 8 to start the game from 3 down, stepped up and had the biggest shot of the game, to go along with five steals and three blocks.
“Just space and just trust that JB is going to make the right play like he has all year,” White said, when asked what he was thinking as Brown entered the lane . “I saw it well and I just wanted to stay in the shot and knock it down.
“Obviously I missed a few in a row, but they were starting to feel a little better, so they stayed confident and were able to make one.”
For the Pacers, it was yet another game that will leave them with regrets about how this series went. After taking a 9-point lead on a Nembhard and -1 layup in the fourth quarter, TJ McConnell missed a completely exposed layup with 8:35 remaining that would have pushed Indiana’s lead two digits.
Instead, Boston closed the game with a 20-8 run to complete the sweep, marking the third time in four games that Boston pulled away a game it had led in the fourth quarter.
“Give them credit for what they accomplished at the end of the last two games,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “They just made more plays. They blocked shots. They got offensive rebounds. They made key shots.”
As a result, the Celtics – who had reached five Eastern Conference Finals in seven years before this one, reaching the NBA Finals just once – are now back in the league championship round. And part of that is due to the growth of Brown and Tatum, their two stars who have seen this team through so many rough patches in the playoffs over the last few years, finally stringing together a 12-2 stretch in the East that will have this team as fresh and ready for the finals as possible.
“We feel like we’re a different team than last year and the year before that,” Brown said. “I know everyone wants to keep sticking to what was going on in the past, but we’ve had a different team every year, different coaches, we’ve had about three coaches in the last five years. And he there are always people. I want to give the impression that it’s the same, it’s the same, it’s the same.
“Time has passed, experience has been gained and I think we are ready to do our best.”
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