Jrue Holiday overcame an illness to score a game-winning 3-point play with 38 seconds to go and then make a game-saving steal to help the Boston Celtics rally from an 18-point deficit to beat the Indiana Pacers 114-111 on Saturday night and take a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
Boston will clinch its second NBA Finals appearance in three seasons with a win in Game 4 on Monday in Indianapolis.
Jayson Tatum tied his playoff career high with 36 points and had 10 rebounds and eight assists. Jaylen Brown scored 24 points and Al Horford added 23 points and seven 3-pointers, and the Celtics won their sixth straight playoff game and remain unbeaten on the road in the postseason this season.
Holiday played despite being listed as questionable with an unrelated illness and missing the morning shooting practice.
“He came out here and gave it his all for us and made some big plays to win the game. We're a good team,” Tatum said in a post-game television interview.
Andrew Nembard led the Pacers with a career-high 30 points, but Holiday stole the ball from him with 3.3 seconds left. TJ McConnell finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam each had 22 points.
Indiana played without All-NBA guard Tyrese Haliburton, who sat out with a left hamstring injury, and his absence was evident as Boston finished with a 13-2 run, the Pacers' first loss in seven home games this postseason.
The sellout crowd, mostly decked out in gold plaid shirts featuring dozens of individual stamps outlining the state of Indiana as part of the Indianapolis 500 weekend celebrations, helped inject energy into the venue in Haliburton's absence.
But Holiday's big layup, subsequent free throws and game-winning defensive play silenced the crowd, then Holiday made two free throws with 1.1 seconds left to close the game.
Indiana had a chance to force overtime, but Aaron Nesmith missed a three-point shot.
In a tight contest, Indiana led by 18 points midway through the second quarter and again midway through the third, but Boston rallied a second time, forcing turnovers and mounting a 13-4 run to pull within 90-81 at the end of the third quarter.
It was just getting started for the Celtics. Boston opened the fourth quarter with a 9-3 run and pulled within 93-90 on a Horford 3-pointer with 8:29 left.
Indiana then took a 107-99 lead with 3:05 left before Boston closed out the game with a 13-2 run to secure its fifth straight road win of the playoffs.
