For the third time this postseason, the Boston Celtics have faced off in a game decided by single digits, coming from behind to win Game 3 against the Pacers in Indiana, 114-111. The Celtics took a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals, but Indiana was completely out of the running because the Pacers were without Tyrese Haliburton, who was cheering on his teammates in a cardigan after a lingering hamstring injury resurfaced. Boston will enter the NBA Finals without a meaningful test, but that's not the Celtics' fault, and it's not surprising. The Eastern Conference playoffs have been a tough road to get to this point, but on Saturday night, the Celtics were backed into a corner and finally had to show off some thrilling, innovative play. They responded with some seriously cool basketball.
The Celtics had two plays at the end of the fourth quarter that fit that bill. With 76 seconds left and trailing by five, Jayson Tatum got the ball off a down screen and drove into the paint. He tried to make it within one possession with a three-pointer, but Andrew Nembard made two free throws to put the Celtics in a pretty desperate situation. Tatum beat Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam. With no passing lanes, Tatum made a behind-the-back bounce pass to Al Horford in the corner, who made a three-pointer. It was the coolest pass the Celtics have made in a while, even though they don't play the pass that much.
After a few more tense exchanges, Tatum missed a layup that would have given Boston a three-point lead with 10 seconds left. Nembard grabbed the rebound, looked to his coach and, after Rick Carlisle gambled and didn't take a timeout, pounced on July Holiday. The Canadian wing, who was having a great game, shook off Holiday's initial pressure and dribbled his way to the middle of the lane, where only moments earlier it had been empty. But Holiday recovered and was at his spot before Nembard. Nembard seemed surprised that his opponent was waiting for him, and after stumbling, he regained his composure a few seconds later, Holiday calmly made an inside-hand steal to seal the game.
Whether or not you “enjoy” Boston Celtics cool basketball will necessarily vary from person to person. It's the Boston, Simmons, and/or Tatoumian elements that will stir up your inner hater. I hope the haters agree that Celtics cool basketball is a lot easier to watch than watching them min-max their way through a team never once being hindered by anything other than their freakish shooting luck. I watched the Celtics play 12 games in these playoffs and felt like I learned nothing. It's annoying to watch Jaylen Brown grumpily beg for picks, but from the press conference, I got the sense that he was almost as upset as I was that the team wasn't really forced to show how great they were.
What's great about the NBA playoffs is how long they are. A quarter of the regular season is played every night. It makes sense that it gets more and more painful and tough as a team advances. I'm not a big fan of the cliche of the heart of a champion, but I want to see the best basketball possible. Basketball where two teams push themselves and each other to the limit and then somehow surpass it. It's in those fierce battles that you find out what a team is really like. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been there many times before, but this Celtics group is like no other.
Four of the eight players from Boston's playoff rotation from last year are gone. Holiday, a longtime Celtics nemesis, started at point guard and finally found his footing after a surprisingly slow start in the playoffs. Derrick White might be Boston's second-best player, especially as their identity as a small, long-range shooting, ball-stopping machine came together. Their bench is made up of Sam Hauser, Luke Kornet and Payton Pritchard, the last of whom is the only one who has been a liability in the playoffs so far. While they benefited (and that's almost an understatement) from playing against three teams with serious injury crises, they are also missing Kristaps Porzingis, who was their best player and identity-maker this season. There is still a lot to learn about this team, that's my point, and there have been very few situations in which any of it could be effectively tested.
Boston has been the best team in the NBA all season and will be a favorite to win the Western Conference Finals no matter who wins. It's odd to view a team like this as both obviously great and immature at the same time. I wouldn't blame them if they won more easily, but as a sports fan and someone who believes it's essential to sanctify all great teams alongside the great ones of history and modern times, I want to see a team struggle, overcome, fight, and battle their way to a championship.
Sure, it's more fun as a spectator, but it's also more informative. Even if the Celtics make it through the rest of the playoffs like they have, the only thing that's memorable and important to their identity is their constant winning. That's why I enjoyed Game 3 more than any other Celtics game this season. They were forced to reach a new level, and the way they did it was exciting to watch. Whether Luka Doncic's Mavericks advance from the Western Conference or Anthony Edwards' Timberwolves advance, the Celtics will soon, finally, face their first real test in the Finals. I hope they show us something new.
