Boston Celtics: 3 takeaways from Game 4 victory vs. Pacers
By Shea Norling
The Boston Celtics swept the Indiana Pacers out of the 2019 NBA Playoffs with a gritty Game 4 victory on the road. Here are three takeaways from the win.
The Boston Celtics are making another trip to the Eastern Conference semifinals, where they await the Milwaukee Bucks after their series with the Detroit Pistons reaches a merciful conclusion. Meanwhile, the Indiana Pacers are eliminated from playoff contention, after a 110-106 home loss to the Celtics in Game 4.
Early on, it looked like the Celtics might need a trip back to Boston to clinch a berth in the semifinals and an opportunity to take down the conference’s top seed. Boston stormed out to an 8-0 lead on Sunday, only to finish the first frame on the wrong side of a 23-13 run by the Pacers.
Indiana saw its biggest contributions of the series from the trio of Domantas Sabonis, Bojan Bogdanovic and Myles Turner, who contributed 49 of the Pacers’ 106 points, but it wasn’t enough for the Victor Oladipo-less squad to overcome the Celtics.
Meanwhile, on Boston’s end, the Cs were able to weather underwhelming performances from stars Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, and Jayson Tatum, as the bench exploded for 49 points. The Celtics bench matched the Pacers trio in scoring, while Gordon Hayward‘s most meaningful contributions in the playoffs so far allowed the Celtics to advance to the second round of the playoffs.
The best team in the NBA by win percentage will all but certainly meet the Celtics in the semifinals, and they will need a performance from their bench like they got in Game 4 to take down the Bucks. These are three takeaways from the Game 4 victory.