What was shaping up to be a competitive, ballistic Eastern Conference finals may now be taking a turn. The Indiana Pacers will get home-court advantage in Game 3, where they are undefeated so far in the playoffs — but what of their star, who left Game 2 in the third quarter? With Tyrese Haliburton’s status questionable for Game 3 of the Boston Celtics vs. Pacers series, Boston’s series odds have ballooned to -10000.
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Of course, the injury could be, as Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said he hoped, “a very short-term aggravation.” Haliburton was “questionable” in the Pacers’ series against the New York Knicks with several minor injuries but played in all seven games.
The Celtics, too, are playing down one star, Kristaps Porziņģis’ status still uncertain. But the Jaylen Brown-Jayson Tatum duo and Boston’s depth have made that absence almost a non-issue in the playoffs so far.
The plot seems dark for the Pacers right now, but they’ve been down 0-2 in this playoffs before, and they’ve shown they can fight back.
Here’s a look at the storylines, odds and staff picks for Saturday’s Game 3 in Indianapolis.
All odds from BetMGM. Find the best deals on StubHub for tickets.
No. 1 Boston Celtics at No. 6 Indiana Pacers
How to watch: 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC
Celtics lead series 2-0
Series odds: Celtics -10000, Pacers +3000
Thus far in an injury-riddled playoffs, the Pacers have been largely on the benefiting side of those injury reports. They faced a Milwaukee Bucks team sans Giannis Antetokounmpo and two games without Damian Lillard, and then a New York Knicks team with several players (OG Anunoby, Julius Randle, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart) either out or playing hurt. As mentioned, they are currently up against a Boston Celtics team without Porziņģis.
But that should not take away from the strength this Pacers core has shown. They’re the highest-scoring team in both the regular season and postseason and play at a blistering pace that almost knocked the wind out of the Celtics in Game 1. Haliburton has been averaging 18.7 points, 8.2 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game this postseason. In Game 2 of the conference finals, where Haliburton left with a few minutes left in the third quarter, Pascal Siakam rose to the occasion, getting 28 points, five rebounds and two assists.
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The Pacers haven’t lost at home since March 18. And they have survived without Haliburton before — they went 6-4 when he was out with a hamstring injury in January.
But not against this Celtics team. Indiana went 3-2 against Boston in the regular season and lost the one game against Boston without Haliburton.
On the Celtics’ side, not a lot of cracks are showing. They are playing their best basketball at exactly the right time, especially Brown. Brown is dominating on both sides of the court. In Game 2, he had a game-high 40 points, but he was also controlling the game on the defensive end. Jayson Tatum and Derrick White both added 23 points, with Tatum getting five assists and six rebounds and White getting six assists and four rebounds. Al Horford, who was a real target for the Pacers’ defense, added 10 rebounds.
Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field, but Boston shot 40.5 percent from three (15-of-37) compared to Indiana’s 37.9 percent (11-of-29) and had 54 points in the paint compared to Indiana’s 34.
If Haliburton can come back in Game 3, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the odds shift again. If he doesn’t, it will be a massive uphill battle for the remaining Indiana core.
Expert picks for Celtics at Pacers
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Jaylen Brown, All-NBA? Maybe not, but Celtics lucky he’s better than ever
Pacers hope Tyrese Haliburton’s injury is just a ‘short-term aggravation’
(Photo of Jaylen Brown: Brian Babineau / NBAE via Getty Images)
