Boston Celtics Escape In The Clutch To Begin East Finals

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 21: Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics reacts after making a ... [+] three-point basket to tie the game late during the fourth quarter against the Indiana Pacers in Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals at TD Garden on May 21, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Jaylen Brown sat at the podium, stoically, waiting for a reporter to finish his question. But his response was in the chamber and ready to go.

He’s been around for too many postseason games – 116 to be exact — to know anything can happen to flip a game on its head. To Brown, there is no situation where his Boston Celtics lose hope, or fail to believe.

“Welcome to the NBA playoffs,” he said.

Appearing handcuffed, with Indiana on the verge of stealing homecourt, the NBA’s number one seed proved this will not be the same old story. While past versions of the Celtics wouldn’t have landed a counter punch, knowing they can fight another day, this group took a stand.

They weren’t about to drop a third home game. Not yet.

The Pacers had to take it. Instead, they threw it away — literally.

Trailing by three points, the Celtics intentionally fouled with 10 seconds left in regulation. The next foul would’ve sent Indiana to the line for a chance to ice the game.

However, the longest-tenured Celtic (and vocal leader) stepped up with two critical plays, saving them from another head-scratching loss after leading by 13 in the third quarter.

Brown aggressively blew up the Pacers’ inbound pass in the backcourt, staying glued to Pascal Siakam and leaving no window for a catch. It forced a turnover and gave Boston another opportunity to tie the game.

That’s when more chaos ensued.

Boston executed a baseline out-of-bounds (BLOB) set, using Derrick White for misdirection. Notice Brown start the possession in the left corner, then run toward White to engage in this off-ball screening action:

The whole point was to get Siakam chasing from behind, which would lead directly into White’s screen. It bought enough time for Brown to catch the ball cleanly, but that was only half the battle.

You can run all the beautiful plays you want — basketball is about elite shotmaking.

Brown still had to deliver the magic to send the game to overtime.

“You just got to manage your emotions in the game,” Brown said regarding his team’s poise. “Anything can happen. The game is not over until the final whistle, when the final buzzer sounds. That was a good example of that.”

After the Celtics forced overtime, it was Tatum’s time to close the deal. He punished Indiana’s smaller wings in the post before going to Boston’s favorite action: High pick-and-roll between Tatum and White. That generated a wide-open three for the Celtics’ franchise star as Indiana put two defenders on White’s drive. It was all Boston needed to pull away.

Since the NBA started tracking play-by-play data in 1997, Tatum is just the 11th player to score at least 10 points in an overtime period. It’s the first time since 2021.

Tatum ended with 36 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, and three steals. His playoff performances are easily taken for granted, perhaps because only the questionable shot attempts and puzzling turnovers become the topic of discussion on social media.

Minus an awful fadeaway jumper late in regulation and a silly turnover when he threw the ball away in overtime, it was another high-quality Tatum game that inches Boston one step closer to another Finals berth.

Sometimes, even the overwhelming favorites have to win ugly. That’s just how it goes in the playoffs when the best coaching staffs in the world have studied your tendencies and developed smart gameplans to exploit certain weakness.

Narrow victories against the six seed count the same as blowout wins against a team with the same record. To win a championship, the 16 wins you accumulate will not look the same. But in the end, will anyone care how they look?

And if the Celtics need to win in different ways, that’s where the acquisition of Jrue Holiday will pay dividends.

Holiday, known for his checkered playoff history and lack of efficiency in these moments, turned back the clock and stole the show on Tuesday. Shooting 10-of-16 from the field, including four three-pointers, he bailed out the Celtics’ offense on multiple possessions. He utilized his strength in the post, sealing weaker defenders when Boston noticed a mismatch.

But if they need him to simply space the floor while

It was Holiday’s first playoff game with at least 25 points since May 2022. If you recall, that was during the Bucks’ second round matchup with Boston — in the same building — when Holiday was tasked with more offensive usage due to Khris Middleton’s absence.

“Jrue was fantastic, he was exceptional,” Brown said. “Shoutout to Jrue. He came out and balled. He’s the reason we won this game. I think he was just poised, took advantage of his matchups. He was just so elite, and he’s guarding Haliburton, picking him up and chasing him around. That was special from Jrue Holiday.”

Although he did hound Haliburton and create havoc on the defensive end, the Pacers still lost Game 1 due to unforced errors and, frankly, terrible luck. In hindsight, if Haliburton doesn’t dribble off his knee and turn it over, or if Siakam finds a way to foul Brown before the 3-point attempt, Indy would’ve stolen homecourt.

Those are just the breaks. Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle has seen it happen during his playoff runs in Dallas. He knows you can’t dwell on it.

“Look, a lot of things had to go wrong for us and right for them,” Carlisle said. “They did. So, we have to own it and get ready for Thursday.”

Meanwhile, the Celtics aren’t satisfied. They understand it’s not going to be a perfect road to the Finals and there will be speed-bumps, even against a massive underdog.

Mazzulla’s major theme this season has centered on process over results. He doesn’t buy into the notion a top-seeded team should blitz every opponent, or have the expectation every game will be a cakewalk.

Instead, every situation is a data point to learn and grow from. Even the ones that look ugly until a miracle strikes.

“I expect all of the games to be like that,” Mazzulla said after Game 1. “I thought both teams competed at a high level. For us, obviously we weren’t perfect, we can get better. But I thought we maintained a level of poise and mental toughness. Just continue to work through some of the mistakes. That’s the bind (the Pacers) put you in, because of the way they play. We handled it well, and we have to get better.”

The playoffs are about matchups and adjustments. There’s a reason most superstars and coaches consider Game 1 of any series to be a feel-out game. Any time your defense is facing an All-NBA level creator and playmaker, which Haliburton is, there will be a learning curve early on.

“They are going to test your discipline every single possession, whether you’re up five or up 25,” Mazzulla said. “So I think, at the end of the day, we shouldn’t even really look at the scoreboard. We should just keep playing as much as we can.”

Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla gestures during the second half of Game 3 of the team's NBA ... [+] basketball second-round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Saturday, May 11, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Regardless of how clean the victories are for the Celtics, this is already a much better playoff showing than last season.

Boston is 9-2 during this playoff run with the best defensive rating (107.1) among the remaining teams. They have outscored teams by 11.6 points per 100 possessions, still the highest mark in the postseason by a wide margin.

For context, the 2008 Celtics were only 6-5 with a +7.3 net rating after their first 11 playoff games. They are (rightly) recognized as one of the all-time great units in NBA history ... despite going to seven games in the first two rounds. That group ultimately pushed through and got it done, solving different problems and gaining more confidence in each series.

Had the Celtics dropped this Game 1, the idea of them being a ‘fraudulent’ 64-win team would’ve permeated throughout the media for 48 hours.

Yet, they continue grinding out playoff wins despite their starting center, Kristaps Porzingis, being out with a calf strain. Porzingis is nearing a return, which would open up their offense even more with reliable five-out spacing.

Boston still has work to do. But so far, they have done exactly what the outsiders have begged of them.

Tuesday was only their second instance of playing ‘clutch-time’ minutes since the playoffs began. They are 2-0 in those situations and 23-12 overall when you include the regular season. That’s a slightly better record than Minnesota (24-15) and right behind Dallas (26-11), the two Finals contenders out West. So, why does everyone act as if Boston isn’t tested in the clutch?

It’s a strange concept when it comes to them, specifically. Boston is supposed to win decisively against every East opponent, but simultaneously needs to prove they can win close battles. Nothing they do is good enough.

The Celtics will never be 100% mistake-free. Good thing for them — no champion across the NBA’s 77-year history needed to be perfect.