Boston has been the clear favorite to win the Eastern Conference for a while and has been mostly unchallenged in the postseason. The Celtics are now one game away from making it to the NBA Finals.
The Celtics are up 3-0 on the Indiana Pacers heading into Monday’s Game 4. Boston has had a couple slip-ups at home in these playoffs, but is a perfect 5-0 on the road and is a significant favorite to make that 6-0 and advance. The Pacers have had chances to win two games in this series, but are instead on the brink of elimination.
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Here’s a look at the storylines, odds and staff picks for Monday’s Game 4 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 p.m. ET on ESPN
Celtics lead series 3-0
Series odds: Celtics unlisted, Pacers +10000
Boston entered this series as the clear betting favorite and now, with their 3-0 lead, you can’t even find odds on the Celtics to win this series on BetMGM. That’s the third time this has happened this playoffs.
Game 3 also made this series the third in which Boston has faced a team without a star player. Indiana guard Tyrese Haliburton didn’t dress for Game 3 due to a hamstring injury. Boston got Miami without Jimmy Butler in the first round. Donovan Mitchell missed two games for Cleveland in the second round. Now, Haliburton missed Indiana’s first home game in a conference final series.
Indiana still almost, and arguably should have, won. That’s the second time in three games Indiana can say that. What could’ve been.
The Pacers led by 18 points midway through the third quarter. They led by eight with less than three minutes left. They led by five with less than 80 seconds left. Boston closed the game on an 8-0 run and the Pacers are left wondering how this happened.
Second-year guard Andrew Nembhard had a career night with 32 points and nine assists in Haliburton’s absence. The problem for the Pacers was that they shot 5-for-22 from 3-point range. Outside of Nembhard, the Pacers were 1-for-15 from deep.
Indiana now faces the historically impossible feat of coming back from 0-3 down. Boston was in this spot last year in the East finals when the Celtics trailed the Heat 3-0. Boston came all the way back to force a Game 7 at home and was favored to be the first NBA team to come back from a 3-0 series deficit. Then the Celtics got blown out in the decisive game. It doesn’t seem likely Indiana has that kind of run in it against this Boston team, which is now 11-2 this postseason.
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The one reason for optimism is that Indiana has had leads in the final minute of two of the three games so far. Closing is a skill and Indiana has not displayed it this series, but the 3-0 series score is not how the basketball on the court has looked. Can Indiana start to even that out with a win on Monday?
Expert picks for Celtics at Pacers
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(Photo of Jayson Tatum: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
