Boston Celtics Advance to NBA Finals After Sweeping Pacers

On the day that former Celtics great, Bill Walton passed away Boston advanced to the NBA Finals. The Celtics completed the sweep of the Indiana Pacers on Monday night. They defeated the Pacers with a late rally to close them out 105-102. Jaylen Brown walked away with the Larry Bird Trophy as the Eastern Conference Finals MVP. Brown had an amazing series and made two great plays in the final 65 seconds of Game 4. The first one was the block on Andrew Nembhard’s drive to the rim. The final one was kicking the ball out to Derrick White to hit the game winning 3-pointer. This helped the Celtics escape Indiana with the win and return to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years. Unfortunately, the Pacers were without All-Star Tyrese Haliburton in the final two games.

Haliburton injured his hamstring in Game 2, didn’t return and wasn’t available the rest of the series. Indiana still put up a great fight throughout the series without their star point guard. Nembhard was brilliant for a second straight game as Haliburton’s replacement, going for 24 points and 10 assists in 38 minutes. The injuries were a major issue in the playoffs and especially in the Eastern Conference. For Boston, Tatum finished with 26 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists in the closeout game. The Celtics await the winner of the Dallas and Minnesota series to meet in the NBA Finals. The NBA Finals will begin on Thursday, June 6^th which is a little over a week.