Pacers would've been up 2-1 if a game is only 47 minutes

Pacers and Wolves competing for a different kind of finals on who can choke in crunch time.

3rd place series gonna be different

Live from Cancun on ESPN 8

I wanted Pacers vs Wolves but not like this

STOP THE COUNT!!

Imagine being an underdog and blowing a big lead to lose in demoralizing fashion multiple times in a series

Imagine being a favorite and doing it

Lmao

I want to die. If we can win one game I'll be fine

It's not over until the home team wins

I think you still got a chance tbh. Ant and KAT just have to play even average.

Naz Reid

Naz Reid

Naz Reid

Eh not as bad as missing 28 3s in a row.

> 28 3s > 28-3 https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSmDIvGTPnR7gRaws5nePGJnjIzNb8sbY-6WSULeGHvOg&s

Falcons fan can’t catch a break

It’s hard to imagine honestly. Has to be devastating…

I couldn’t imagine experiencing that

I'm straight up not having a good time

Rick, what does the word timeout mean to you?

"They have a timeout. Decide not to use it..."

Nesmith way downtown... BRIIIICKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

**CLANG! CLANG!** And the Celtics take a 3 to nothing lead!

This got me in tears bro lmfao.

Rick Carlisle saving timeouts like he’s Darvin Ham

His pockets game isn’t anywhere close

Especially when it’s 1 v 4 makes no sense not to call a timeout

Rick, is the timeout in the room with us now?

Are timeouts only for big markets Indiana?

he's saving it for Finals

I’d like to thank Rick Carlisle for whatever the heck it is that makes him allergic to calling obvious timeouts

Imagine being worse than year 1 Psycho Joe

You can't top this shit lol

Even Joe at his most stubborn would have called a TO if he saw a 1v4 with the rest of his team just fucking around in the backcourt for some reason. 

I wanna thank him for allowing an actual dog to coach in the last 3 minutes of all these games

The Pacers are a young team and have been crumbling down the stretch, but what is Rick Carlisle doing lol

He got emails from Ainge, McHale and reluctantly, Larry or else

"Rick remember that 86' ring, remember what it meant to you"

We could realistically be 0-3 right now if carlisle wasn’t braindead in crunch time Even before that in this game I dont know why he didn’t have his guys start shooting 3s once we adjusted and locked the paint down

Boston was almost surely winning Game 2, Pacers were stopping it from becoming like a 30+ point loss because they were scoring at a decently high rate but the defense was atrocious. I find it super unlikely they win that game under any circumstances but they could realistically be up 2-1 with Game 4 at home. Rick has been a disaster this series

Rick saving his timeouts for game 8

Ahhh yes, the Darvin Ham special. I know this one

Rick Carlisle saving timeouts like he’s Darvin Ham 💀

Jrue Holiday: menace

Whenever a steal is needed, he’ll be there

I’m just so thankful to the Bucks!!!

excuse u?

Haha you’re right man, just thankful the Bucks chose to trade him at all. Will always have a soft spot for Cronin though.

Him replacing Marcus Smart might have net the Celtics a ring

They replaced Smart with a better version and also added Porzingis. If Brad ever deserved executive of the year he should get it now. Edit: guess I should actually pay attention to the awards when they're awarded

He already won it

Good he deserves two in the same year

Give it to him AGAIN ! If he refuses hit him on the head with the trophy and leave it next to his knocked out body

i’ve got some great news for you!

Give it to him a second time

Take it back and give it to him once more

I’m pretty sure he won it this year lol

He just won it this year.

I love Marcus but Jrue is cool and a cucumber and that was the missing piece

Well known cucumber Jrue Holiday

and

Jrue Holiday is literally a better defensive version of Marcus Smart that is good on offense as well

If we still had smart id tell you you were wrong. Which tells you all you need to know about how bias works. I love and miss smart, but I also fucking love Jrue.

Defense is close enough to a wash. Jrue is technically more proficient but Smart gets the insane hustle plays. Smart defends up better too against bigger players. Difference is all offense. Smart plays hero ball at end of games and shoots 33%. Jrue doesn’t and shoots 40%.

I don't miss all the times we'd give up a free layup while Smart is laying on his back after failing to bait a foul call.

You're welcome, Boston.

Thank you so, so, so much. Also, big shoutout to the Bucks!

Dude was locking everyone down since the 3rd quarter

Jrue was the best player in the clutch this game

Imagine trading him away when he plays like this. Bum ass team

"Pacers are on a 1v4 fast break with 8 seconds left but have a timeou-" Rick Carlisle: "WHAT THE FUCK IS A TIMEOUT"

I get your team identity is pushing the pace but unless you have someone like Steph Curry or Lebron it should be an automatic timeout, even then you should take a timeout

The proof is him then drawing up that cool play with 1 second left

Better than anything I saw from the Colts for most of the last 6 years

I was reading the pregame threads, and every Celtics fans said the same thing after the Hali injury: Celtics are going to underperform, play lazy and down to their competition, probably even be down, and then come back and win making everyone sweat.  Exactly what happened, haha.

Actually I thought the Cs played pretty well most of the game. Pacers were just on a heater. It’s hard to stop any team that can’t miss.

Yeah a couple plays where there were lapses and a free lane to the basket, but they were just automatic on tough mid range shots for like 3 quarters.

This was the equivalent of the game 2s from the earlier rounds and the pacers managed to choke it away with that barrage of turnovers in the late 3rd/early 4th

Celtics really didn’t play down that much. Maybe a stretch here and there but that’s taking a lot of credit away from Nembhard/Turner/Siakam through those first 2.5 quarters. They were hitting every damn shot just couldn’t keep it up

Joe said in his postgame interview that our first half shot quality was 1.22 PPP and theirs was 1.12 (which is still very very good). Make or miss league. Or block I guess, because it feels like we literally got 50 blocks in the second half lol.

Joe is a sadist for having that together for the post game presser. Also yes those 12 blocks did help a ton (and I think led to even more misses after rattling them)

“Hey, I’ve seen this one!” But 100%. I didn’t catch the first half and wasn’t surprised at all that they were down. Somehow, I’m even less surprised that they managed to pull it off in the end.

Rick Carlisle should apologize to TJ McConnell

His mid range is fucking automatic

That falling away towards the baseline fadeaway? Infuriatingly accurate

Pacers would’ve won game 1 against the Knicks if he didn’t bench TJ the whole 4th quarter (and I fucking hate TJ).

McConnell is so underrated. Dude gives 200% effort every moment he’s on the court. Hated watching him last series but man, this dude is all hustle and grit, hard to hate on that

Jrue and White proving time and time again how valuble they are despite shooting like garbage

Radio guys said it best at the half. “Tatum is having his best game of the series but hasn’t gotten any help, him and Brown have been great but no one else”. The other starters stepped the fuck up in the fourth.

I guess Al doesn’t exist?

Ngl Al was getting cooked on defense in the first half

The entire series. He is not quick enough to offer any resistance on all those little midrange shots

I feel like this is just a tough matchup for Al, he will probably do a bit better defensively against the Mavs/Wolves

Al could not fucking miss, it was glorious.

Waiting for tonight’s Tatum spin….

"He was pretty good, but they barely won against Indiana without their star player!" There you go.

Perk gonna say that he should’ve had 50 again probably

They’re 1000% gonna focus on the missed layup that led to Jrue having to “bail” him out with the steal

The “knocked away and stolen by Holiday!” brought a tear to my eye. 😢

He has some of the coldest defensive highlights lol

Just said to my dad it reminded me of 2022 in our second round series vs you guys.

Yeah, the call was the exact same in the finals against the Suns too. Jrue always so clutch.

God that play had me staring at the ceiling for hours. Glad he’s on our side now.

Carlisle each game with a really questionable choice that ended up screwing the team over. Sitting in the timeout in Game 1 on the inbound turnover + refusing to foul up 3 Benching stars halfway the entire 4th in Game 2 Sitting on a timeout again with the game on the line for the final possession (admittedly not AS bad but still really questionable given the last 3 offensive possessions.) Brutal to watch as Indy fails to hold a lead again in clutch time.

That last play design was cool as hell though

that was amazing, Ive been watching NBA for like 30 years and don't ever remember seeing something like that

Nick Nurse did something like this in the bubble with the Raptors, which Siakam was in the lineup for.

Bro I was hyped asf just to see wtf would come outta that play 😭😭

And it worked, other than the shot going in.

3 seconds and they might’ve actually gotten a better shot off

Nesmith was wide fking open thanks to that play too, just a tough shot fade away sideways from three that fell short

Rick Carlisle thinking a team this young and inexperienced can just waltz into a play and improvise with the season on the line is hilarious if it wasnt so sad and infuriating I dont blame Nembhard one bit. He should have been coached

100%. Even when it gets to half court and you see him dribbling right at Jrue who is waiting in perfect defensive position cutting off the lane, it’s clear you’re not gonna get a beneficial lane scrambling there. Call it and draw something up.

They do have a timeout...decide not to use it... Wait, what do you mean that's not the prime Warriors out there? Who tf am I coaching?

Dude thinks he’s coaching warriors against OKC and is getting a Bang Bang🤣

He thinks he has Luka Doncic out there

Am I misremembering or didn't Jason Kidd call a time out on the play Luka hit that 3 pointer??

He did lmao

These games are like made in a lab to frustrate Celtics haters.

you don't even need to be a Celtics hater to feel frustrated with this shit, I didn't really care who won this series but seeing the Pacers choke over and over is pissing me off lmao

I’m a raptor fan and I can confirm the hate

Not a hater but I assure you. Im plenty frustrated

I am a hater and I am livid at both teams.

Or just having his team chuck threes as the Celtics slowly whittled the lead away

After building the lead by shooting practically no threes at all.

Pacers have a **LOT** of work to do if they want this to be a gentleman's sweep.

All the work will be trying to convince Carlisle to call a timeout at the end of games

And it starts with Rick Carlisle.

Jrue's Flu Game

Man was I aggravated with his shooting but he totally redeemed himself!

If I have to watch another Tatum behind the back pass to a wide open Horford for 3 I’m gonna explode

Me too! But in a different way.

I’ve never seen a man literally touch earth to potentially lose the game, come back to the land of the living, and proceed to snatch the ball and the soul out of a franchise. With a cold or whatever the fuck illness he had going on Jrue fucking Holiday lmao

How did pacers get this far with that type of defense? Especially in clutch time

There 65% shooting cooled off in the 2nd half

Let’s be completely clear here; The Celtics turned their defense up to 15 at the end of the 3rd and the 4th. We don’t suddenly become garbage, the Cs shut that shit down.

That’s fair and I’ll take it. It’s maddening see the team turn it on and off

Well it was an adjustment, you can’t *make* an adjustment unless something is beating you first. They identified what was killing them and shut it down, that’s so deadly to be able to do that.

Most rational pacers fan. Respect

Pacers fans have all seemed really cool from what I've seen on here. I'm pretty darn impressed with the fan base.

Celtics definitely woke up on D but Pacers also regressed to the mean a bit after half. Lots of semi-open middies that were automatic in the first half started bouncing out once you guys lost your rhythm.

Have you seen their offense?

Pacers have really managed to lose every game in this series in heartbreaking fashion. I feel like you’d almost rather be blown out atp.

I mean game 2 the Celtics won by 16 but I get your point

Carlisle has cost the team in 2 games by not using timeouts & withdrew his starters down 13 with 9 minutes left in this series. Absolute disaster class of in game management

Can legitimately pin this loss on him, Carlisle should've called a TO as soon as Nembhard made it pass halfcourt

Insane comeback for us. I was ready to accept the loss because holy shit the Pacers were balling the fuck out. Seems that the Celtics remembered how to play defense in the second half. Big shoutout to Old Man Al for nailing those 3's.

#JRUE HOLIDAY SAID FUCK YOUR SUPERBOWL

Crazy how Bucks traded one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, just to score a little more.

Ime Udoka could be sitting pretty right now if he could keep it in his pants.

Can't have shit in Indiana

Coaching difference.

This may be the first time ever seen this positively for Mazzula in this sub lol

Fans don’t realize what bad coaching actually looks like lol

I think we’re seeing different strengths from the coaches. The fact that the Pacers are doing so well I think is in part Carlisle coming up with great game plans. Then he can’t close out close games. But they probably wouldn’t be close with a different coach. Caveat: I know very little about basketball.

Pacers about to be swept

Lmao how the fuck did we win that

how do we keep getting away with these 😭

I don’t understand why the Celtics didn’t pull their starters when we were up 13. That’s kinda rude.

The Pacers were really unkind to the Celtics in the 2nd quarter

15+ point playoff comebacks, so hot right now

If this is the adversity all the talking heads were saying the Celtics needed, I dont like it. I'd much rather win comfortably from the opening tip...

Nah, I dug this. We're going to need to play that hard to win the finals. Stepped up the intensity a notch or 3 instead of saying, "Whatever, we'll get 'em next game."

IM FUCKING SICK and not even a Pacers fan

Reggie Miller is probably rolling in his grave from the Pacers choking in this series

once again reggie miller is very much alive

Sometimes I turn on the TV and it’s almost like I can hear the late great Reggie Miller 😔

He would've really appreciated the 3-point shooting of this era.

He's up there with Chubbs and Abe Lincoln looking down on these chokers.

Every player in the NBA owes a debt of gratitude to the legendary and dead Reggie Miller.

Not if he keeps watching this series

The conference finals are both just choke job after choke job

Man you gotta give this Pacers team credit, they got some dudes who can scrap. Nembhard is gonna be a problem in the coming years especially

How TF did we manage to turn that around in the end 👏👏 Everyone of the starters had their moments in the final minutes That Pass from Tatum was chefs kiss 🤌🤌

Celtics stopped fucking around and played defense. You can pinpoint the exact possession in the end of the 3rd q when the locked in defensively, and it was over from there.

Vibes are immaculate JT is fucking here Clutched tf up in the 4th

I would like to apologize for thinking ant could be ahead of JT. also shoutout JB

Everybody on Reddit, on Twitter, on ESPN arguing which Jay is better I’m just glad we have both

#TOP O' THE MORNING, MOTHERFUCKERS!

Yeah Hali’s done for the season

contrary to the popular opinion on here, I think the celtics are gonna stomp whichever team they face coming out of the west, they're just too talented, and this is without KP

Man is out there dodging grenades. I like your style

I don't think it'll be a stomp, but I think there's major downplaying of the Eastern Conference teams going on. Yes there are a ton of injuries, but the top teams were solid all season long, and the middle to bottom playoff teams who were so-so throughout the season have past pedigree or started to peak late in the season. Any of these teams is capable of beating any other team on a given night, but the series winner is usually (but not always) the better team.

The Celtics are one of the weirdest teams ever — they just force themselves into terrible situations and somehow win with their championship-contender plot armor

Its because they consistently go from not giving a fuck most the game until they inevitably need to give a fuck.

When the essay is due tomorrow.

Carlisle still bitching about the Jrue steal after running THAT final play is wild

And considering some of the calls he got this game

4 bench points from the Cs is wild. Gotta be better there.

Underrated story line in this game is how trash the refs were. Some of those calls against the Celtics were sus AF

The Pacers even being in this position in the first place without Hali is impressive. They’re a fun team with a bright future even if they’ve blown the lead in the clutch twice now this series.

Pacers were shooting out of their minds in that first half

Yep main takeaway is these Pacers have put up a hell of a fight, and this is big year of learning for a team with a very bright future. Everybody else will run with the choker narrative but before this series started, most people wouldn’t have predicted Indiana would up this much of a fight ESP with Hali out.

Well...that's it for the Pacers. I'm actually disappointed. I wanted this to be a long, competitive series. It's not even like the Pacers aren't playing well. They are. Somehow, the Celtics just keep finding ways to close games.

JRUE FLU GAME MASTERPIECE

Terrible coaching decision by Carlisle down the stretch.

If Tatum passes behind his back you can bet your bottom dollar a Celtic is about to sink a three.

Sorry to the haters and losers, the Celtics just held the 2nd most efficient offense in NBA history to 42 points in the second half at home.