Poise and Experience Carry Boston Over Indiana, Escapes Eastern Finals Game Loss at Home
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 22 May 2024
Poise and experience.
What's instrumental in Boston escaping with a first Eastern Finals game victory at home over the Indiana Pacers could not be captured in cold statistics.
For statistics-wise, Indiana had Boston beaten.
Continuing with their hot shooting from the New York semis series, the Pacers shot more than fifty percent from the field, including nearly forty percent from three points area against Boston.
Yet Boston beat them in overtime, 133-128 after the Celtics virtually came back from an almost certain defeat to tie the score in regulation, 117-all riding on a Pacers' inbound pass fumble and Jaylen Brown's last few seconds triple.
Poise and experience are not measurable though they could be a factor in drawing the Celtics more shooting fouls giving them more trips to the foul shot lane where they sunk 24 of 30 charities as against the Pacers' only 9 of 10.
That could also explain the final points difference.
But what was more vivid in the eyes of the TD arena live viewers was how Boston pressured the Pacers into committing two grievous errors in the last twenty seconds or so, the last allowing Brown to swish the net with a triple that allowed Boston to come back from the dead via a deadlock at regulation period.
Boston ultimately winning in the extra period was academic for no team could give the Celtics another lease of life and hope to win in the end.
That's another testimony of Boston's poise and experience as a team.
It was a close game from the start as Indiana exploited the absence of Celtics regular center Kristaps Pozinghis to unleash big men Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam alternating with Obi Toppin and in combo with Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith against Boston's relatively shorter starters of Al Horford, Jason Tatum, Brown, Jrue Holiday and Derreck White.
Fortunately, Tatum and Brown were in their game with defense guard Holiday in his most productive thereby matching the output of Turner, Siakam, Halliburton and company.
After a halftime deadlock the two teams proceeded to trade leads in the third quarter and for much of the final quarter.
However, the Pacers seemed to take control in the waning minutes of the game, establishing five point leads, the last cut down to three after a Pacer error with about ten ticks left.
With a three-point advantage and ball on their side, it was simply a matter of safely inbounding the ball and Indiana could coast to victory.
But finding Haliburton well covered by a denying defense, the side court in-bounder opted for a lob pass to Siakam who inexplicably fumbled the pass outside giving possession back to Boston.
Up to that time, Brown had missed all of his previous three-point attempts.
He won't be denied in his fourth try, swishing the ball into the net from the side.
The rest as they say is history.
Tatum led Boston with 36 points and 12 rebounds while Holiday scored 28 points. Brown had 26 points and 7 boards. Horford and White contributed 15 points each. Payton Pritchard came off the bench for 8 points Seven foot Luke Kornet, who is being considered to start in the long term absence of Porzinghis, played for 13 minutes and scored 5 points and 4 rebounds.
Haliburton topped for Indiana with 25 points followed by the big three of Siakam, 24 points, Turner 23 points and Toppin 15 points. Nesmith had 14 points, TJ McConnell 13 points and Nembhard 12 points.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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