Eastern Conference Final Preview: Celtics-Pacers will be unforgettable

You’d be lying if you said you predicted at the start of the year that the Indiana Pacers would find themselves in the Eastern Conference Finals, yet here we are. 

Blame it on injuries to the Bucks and Knicks in the first two rounds if you so choose, but the Indiana Pacers' run through the East’s playoff bracket has been nothing short of stunning, as the high-powered offensive speedsters have thoroughly outpaced and outplayed their opponents to help set them up with their first third-round appearance in 10 years. 

Across the ring from them is a team that expects nothing less than a spot here: the Boston Celtics. 

From the outset of the season, it was practically taking for granted that the Celtics would make their third-straight conference finals, at the very least. Additions of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis turned a dream team into a nightmare for opponents, and their 64-18 regular season record affirmed their pre-season prestige. 

The upcoming Eastern Conference Finals is a microcosm of this season as a whole. A blend of sure things and surprises, of storied success and parity, of established contenders and breakouts all coming under one roof to provide fans with a hopefully unforgettable penultimate round of basketball. 

Here’s everything to watch for in the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Season series: Celtics won 3-2

Nov. 11, 2023, IND @ BOS: Celtics def. Pacers 155-104
Dec. 04, 2023, BOS @ IND: Pacers def. Celtics 122-112
Jan. 06, 2024, BOS @ IND: Celtics def. Pacers 118-101
Jan. 08, 2024, BOS @ IND: Pacers def. Celtics 133-131
Jan. 30, 2024, IND @ BOS: Celtics def. Pacers 129-124

Betting line

Celtics -800 to win series
Pacers +550 to win series
Game 1: Celtics -9.0/Pacers +9.0. O/U 222.0
Eastern Conference Finals MVP: Jayson Tatum -200, Jaylen Brown +450, Tyrese Haliburton +900, Pascal Siakam +1600
All odds courtesy of Bet365

Series schedule

Game 1 @ BOS: Tuesday @ 8 p.m. ET
Game 2 @ BOS: Thursday @ 8 p.m. ET
Game 3 @ IND: Saturday @ 8:30 p.m. ET
Game 4 @ IND: Monday, May 27 @ 8 p.m. ET
*Game 5 @ BOS: Wednesday, May 29 @ 8 p.m. ET
*Game 6 @ IND: Friday, May 31 @ 8 p.m. ET
*Game 7 @ BOS: Sunday, June 2 @ 8 p.m. ET

*If necessary

With this being their sixth appearance in the last eight years, the Boston Celtics have made the Eastern Conference Finals their second home. 

Some might say previous opponents in the playoffs didn’t provide a true challenge for the Celtics. They may even look at the Pacers the same way. But this year Boston hasn’t been a team to underestimate its opponents, instead playing every opponent as though they’re starting off with a fresh 0-0 at tip-off each night. The Celtics haven’t coasted to get to where they are and they certainly won’t coast from here. It may have simply looked that way, considering how gifted this team is. 

Boasting the best starting five in the league, bar none, along with the league’s best offence and third-best defence, the Celtics have run through opponents with their high-powered stretch offence and adaptable and switchable defence. They knocked down the most 3-pointers in the league in the regular season at 16.5 a night on 42.5 attempts and finished with the second-best efficiency at 38.8 per cent. That’s the fourth-highest mark all-time for teams that have shot 35 or more 3-pointers per game. 

Jayson Tatum, their outright No. 1 guy, hasn’t had to come close to carrying Boston, as the forward is averaging only 24.3 points a game on below-average .430/.281/.866 shooting splits in the playoffs. It hasn’t mattered at all, as the Celtics have a bevy of players to step up in his place, with Jaylen Brown scoring 23.1 a night, Derrick White chipping in 18.2, Holiday with 10.4 and Al Harford replacing Porzingis and scoring 8.8 a night. 

Despite Tatum’s middling results and Porzingis’ injury, the prospect of beating the Celtics four times in seven games is a tall task for anyone. That much has been made clear. 

It’s easy to write off the Pacers after their two series wins came against a Bucks team without Giannis Antetokounmpo and a Knicks team feeling the burn of a long, Tom Thibodeau-coached season. But to discount their growth and what it took to get here would be foolish. 

After proving their abilities in high-stakes games during the In-Season Tournament, making the finals and slicing their way through the Celtics and Bucks on their way there, the Pacers have proven that they have what it takes to stick around with the big dogs in these situations. 

Taking down the Knicks in Madison Square Garden in Game 7 is a tall task for any team; dismantling them by 21 while putting up historically efficient numbers on offence is something else entirely. 

This Pacers offence was ranked second (behind the Celtics) in the regular season for a reason. Sticking true to their name, they play at a ridiculously fast pace, finishing second in the league at 101.7 possessions per 48 minutes. They also use a rotation that goes nine-deep, perfect for keeping their guys fresh while they run a fastbreak-heavy full-court offence and a ball-movement-reliant half-court offence.

Tyrese Haliburton has recaptured the rhythm he had at the start of the year as the guard scored 20.5 points a game while hitting 52.9 per cent from the field and 42.6 per cent from deep in the series against New York. Big man Myles Turner has been one of the best stretch-fives in the league in the playoffs, scoring 17.6 points per game while connecting on 44.8 per cent of his deep shots. And to round out the big three, former Toronto Raptor Pascal Siakam is leading the team in scoring and rebounding in the post-season, notching 21.2 points and 7.8 rebounds a game. 

Toss in steady double-digit production from bench players T.J. McConnell and Obi Topping and solid defence and shooting from Aurora, Ont., native Andrew Nembhard, and the Pacers have options aplenty to carry them through the arduous journey of a seven-game series, even if it’s against the juggernaut Celtics. 

Al Horford (Celtics): Is there anyone more dependable on the Celtics than Al Horford? The 37-year-old stalwart has been as steady as ever in his sixth playoff run with Boston, keeping them afloat through the loss the Porzingis. Though his numbers haven’t been eye-popping, he proved that when it’s his night, as it was in Game 5 of the series against the Cavaliers, he can replicate what Porzingis brings and more. He scored 22 points on 8-for-15 from the field and 6-for-13 from 3-point range while grabbing 15 boards to close out Cleveland. If he’s on his game and his shot is falling from deep, the Celtics’ fearsome five-out offence won’t miss a beat, regardless of how long Porzingis might be out. 

T.J. McConnell (Pacers): Former Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas said it best, T.J. McConnell is a game changer. Though he doesn’t leap off the screen or have the wicked agility and finishing package you might expect from a more diminutive guard, McConnell proved in the series with the Knicks that he’s just as ready to get down and dirty as one of the scrappiest teams in the league. He averaged 11.8 points, 5.1 assists and 1.2 steals in some of the most impactful 20.1 minutes you’ll see off the bench. His ability to keep the ball moving and run the offence in lieu of Haliburton kept the Pacers’ ship afloat in stretches throughout the first two rounds. 

Tatum stays hot (Celtics): Though they haven’t exactly needed him at his best, the Celtics are obviously better when Tatum plays to the level he’s touted to play at. Through the first six games of the post-season, the seventh-year forward averaged 21.2 points, 10.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists. Since then, he’s scored 29.0 a night with 10.3 rebounds and 6.5 assists. The Celtics may have the best offence in the league, but they’re going up against a team that would be more than happy to enter into a shootout with them. If Tatum isn’t firing on all cylinders or is shooting only 25 per cent from 3-point range, as he was in the first six games, the margin for error will become much more thin for Boston. 

Play at your pace (Pacers): Once the playoffs hit, it’s common for teams to shrink their rotation to around seven guys. The games tend to slow down and the top dudes log more minutes. Indiana is breaking that convention, running a deep rotation perfect for the fast pace. The Pacers have tired out their opponents with the quick sets in the full-court, and their five-out offence has forced teams to switch a ton and jump around in the half-court. If the Pacers can tire out the Celtics, turning it into a war of attrition, they might be able to take advantage of the top-heavy roster Boston has built out.