Boston Celtics swept Indiana Pacers and became champion of the Eastern Conference to get back into the NBA Finals

Boston Celtics advanced this Monday night at NBA Finals after sweeping 4-0 Indiana Pacers and become champion of the Eastern Conference. The eaves Jaylen Brownwith 29 points, six rebounds and two assists, was the most unbalanced player in the decisive game, where the team led by the young Joe Mazzullabarely 35 years old, won by 105-102 to close an immaculate series. He also showed off Jayson Tatum, who finished with 26 points, 13 boards and eight assists. Both were lethal against a rival who found horrors in his figure, Tyrese Haliburtonabsent due to injury.

The Celtics, who want to become the most successful in the history of the competition – for now they share the privilege with the Los Angeles Lakers with 17 trophies each – are waiting for the winner of the Western Conference. Dallas Mavericksled by the Slovenian Luka Doncichas all the numbers to advance, since the Texans are 3-0 up in the series against The Minnesota Timberwolves.

“We had to win in any way. It was very hard, they didn’t want to give up but we found a way,” Tatum stressed.

Tatum and Brown, voted the best player of the tie, now face their second Finals as leaders of the Celtics after the 2022 loss against the Golden State Warriors.

“We have a great team and now we want to take it to the next level,” said Brown, who led the Celtics in the second half with 19 points.

The Pacers, the great revelation of the playoffs, resisted elimination until the end in front of their fans at the hands of Andrew Nembhard (24 points and 10 assists) and Pascal I’m sorry (19 points and 10 rebounds).

The locals entered the last six minutes with a 90-98 lead but, as in other games in the series, they ended up paying for the vertigo of the final moments against the experienced Celtics.

The base Jrue Holiday (17 points), champion in 2021 with the Bucks, and the Dominican center Al Horford (7 points and 8 rebounds), who was playing in his sixth conference finals at the age of 37, had key actions in the final stretch on both sides of the court.

“They didn’t want the series to last any longer. You have to give them credit.”he acknowledged Rick Carlislethe Indiana coach.

“No one likes to lose four games in a row, but there was not a single resignation from my players,” said the coach in recognition of a team that this season was also a finalist in the first Cup tournament and that started these playoffs as sixth seed in the East. .

The Pacers’ chances, who were playing in their first conference final in a decade, were diminished by the hamstring injury suffered in the second game by Haliburton, their young All-Star point guard.

After being the best team in the regular phase, Boston will start as a favorite to win its first title since 2008 in the Finals which start on June 6, for which he hopes to recover the injured Kristaps Porzingisdown from the first round.

In case of victory, the Celtics will add 18 crowns and break their current tie with the Los Angeles Lakers as the most winning franchises in the NBA.

Before the start of the game, the Gainbridge Fieldhouse audience held a minute of silence for the death this Monday of Bill Walton, one of the best centers in history, who won his second championship ring in 1986 with the Celtics.

Boston started the duel by exploiting its dominance in outside shooting, converting four triples in a row that gave them early dominance on the scoreboard.

Through Indiana, the entrance from the bank of TJ McConnell It worked again to diversify its attack, the best of the season in the NBA. The point guard scored a basket at the first quarter buzzer and Nembhard another just before halftime to bring Indiana within one point (58-57).

Two triples by center Myles Turner after returning from the locker room gave the Pacers a 57-63 lead in a game that was growing in intensity. Turner himself and Jaylen Brown each received technicals for pushing each other midway through the third quarter.

Amid local nervousness, lThe Celtics gradually made up ground and the game was tied at the last minute.when Brown placed a block on Nembhard and Derrick White He nailed the winning triple with 45 seconds left.