The Indiana Pacers had this game in hand but let it slip away. It’s an all-too-familiar story for them in this playoff series against the 1-seed Boston Celtics.
After being up 8 with 2:38 remaining, the Pacers were unable to get enough stops and unable to get the ball in the basket and ended up losing by a final score of 114-111.
Change one or two plays in the series and the Indiana Pacers are up 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals but instead they are facing a hole in which no team in NBA history has been able to dig themselves out.
I joined Locked on Pacers with SI.com’s Tony East to discuss the latest brutal defeat for the blue and gold. You can watch the podcast below or listen via any of your typical podcast providers.
We touch on a multitude of topics in this one including the following:
- How close the Pacers are to having a lead in this series. Does it matter? Inexperienced team showing kind of showing n
- Carlisle’s frustrations and whether or not he should have called a timeout before the Jrue Holiday game-sealing steal. The creative final play to give Aaron Nesmith a chance to to hit a game-tying jumper.
- Referencing Dark Matter, a sci-fi show on AppleTV+ that maybe 12 people will appreciate, and having a wish to be able to examine the roads not taken with Carlisle seeing what the future would have held with a pair of timeouts.
- The best game of Andrew Nembhard’s career, him being visibly down during his press conference. 32 points and 9 assists
- The quartet of Nembhard, McConnell, Turner, and Siakam all playing well with over 20+ points but the Pacers couldn’t find a 5th guy to contribute with every player with 4 points or less.
- Doug McDermott having a positive impact on the game with the highest plus/minus on the team, added a big tip in basket to end the third quarter and a one possession stop on Jayson Tatum on a play where for some reason he ended up on Tatum. What the hell do I know?
- The five stages of grief all getting their runtime over the course of this series.
- The usual banter and thinking out loud.
I’ll have more written coverage on Nembhard and others before Game 4. Stay tuned.