For the third time in four games, the Indiana Pacers held a lead late in the fourth quarter.
For the third time in four games, the Boston Celtics erased it. Boston rallied from an 89-82 fourth-quarter deficit Monday night to secure a 105-102 victory over the Pacers for a second comeback in two games in Indianapolis.
The victory secures a 4-0 victory for the Celtics and a spot in the NBA Finals. Boston will face the winner between the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves for the NBA championship. The Mavericks hold a 3-0 series lead in the Western Conference finals and have a chance to secure their own series victory on Tuesday night.
Boston trailed for most of the fourth quarter before tying the game at 102-102 on a Jaylen Brown floater. Then Derrick White secured its first lead of the quarter at 105-102 on a 3-pointer with 43.9 seconds left.
It turned out to be the final bucket of the game and the series as the Celtics stunned the Pacers’ home crowd for the second straight time. Boston defeated Indiana as the Pacers played a second straight game without All-NBA guard Tyrese Haliburton, who sat Games 3 and 4 with a hamstring injury.
The Pacers seemed in control and were destined to force a Game 5 until the final minutes of the game. As the Celtics closed the gap, Pascal Siakam hit a layup in traffic to extend Indiana’s lead to 102–98 with 3:32 remaining. But the Pacers failed to score again.
In the final 3:32, the Pacers went 0-4 from the field and turned the ball over twice. Andrew Nembhard’s final three-point attempt to match White’s missed the target with 32.1 seconds left. Jayson Tatum provided the rebound for the Celtics and Indiana never had the ball again.
Jaylen Brown paced the Celtics in another sensational effort, scoring 29 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists. He shot 11 of 22 from the field and 4 of 8 from 3-point range.
This story will be updated.
