One question remained: Can they step up in the clutch? The Finals-bound Celtics answered emphatically.
The Celtics executed Game 4 — on offense, and defense too — like a team absolutely hellbent on winning a championship.
INDIANAPOLIS — Even as the Celtics rolled to 64 regular-season wins and essentially sewed up the top seed in the Eastern Conference shortly after the All-Star break, one question shadowed them into the postseason.
How will they fare when they need to execute their late-game offense under duress?
Monday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the answer arrived.
They executed — on offense, and defense too — like a team absolutely hellbent on winning a championship.
Derrick White buried a corner 3-pointer with 45 seconds remaining to break a 102-102 deadlock, Jrue Holiday bounded to collect a crucial offensive rebound on the final possession, and the Celtics advanced to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years with a 105-102 win over the Indiana Pacers.
The victory gave the Celtics a sweep of the four-game series and several days to rest before the final stage of their quest for their first championship since 2008 begins, almost certainly against Luka Doncic and the Mavericks, on June 6.
Cedric Maxwell, the Celtics’ radio broadcaster and 1981 Finals MVP, presented, appropriately enough, the Bob Cousy Trophy to the jubilant conference champs with a declaration that surely had anyone who watched this game nodding in agreement.
“How about those damn Celtics!’’ exclaimed Max.
How about them, indeed.
It might escape our memories Tuesday morning given the delightful ending, but for much of Game 4, the adjective “annoying” might have best described the Celtics’ performance.
It wasn’t necessarily alarming — the Celtics probably would have taken care of business with relative ease back home in Game 5.
But it was a grind, and it was partially self-inflicted. The Celtics led 58-57 at halftime, but fell behind 83-80 after three quarters thanks to some abysmal shooting exacerbated by curious shot-selection. The Celtics were 8 of 22 from the field and 2 of 12 from 3 in the third quarter.
Only Jaylen Brown, who scored 19 of his 29 points in the second half on his way to winning (again, appropriately) the Larry Bird Trophy as the series MVP, had it going.
When ex-Celtic Aaron Nesmith knocked down a short jumper with just under six minutes to play, the Pacers led 98-90.
And then suddenly, the Celtics closed with the efficiency and fearlessness of 2004 Keith Foulke.
With 3:54 left, Jrue Holiday — whose series was like a “Best of Dennis Johnson” video — cut the lead to 100-98 with a conventional 3-point play. Pascal Siakam scored to put the Pacers up 4, but a Jayson Tatum driving dunk and a step-through floater by Brown tied it at 102-102.
The moment proved too big for the Pacers, and the Celtics proved too tough, too talented, and too determined — all the proper elements to close out a game.
After Brown tied the score, the Pacers missed three shots, committed two turnovers, and did not score another point.
The Celtics’ quest is not complete until Banner 18 is secured. But it sure is easy to feel good for them — individual and as a team — this morning.
White, whose savvy, habitually selfless play has also drawn deserved comparisons to DJ, was a helpful Celtic after being acquired in-season during the run to the Finals two years ago, but his confidence sometimes wavered.
Not now. Not anymore. Two years ago, he probably doesn’t take that decisive shot. Monday, he ripped it through the bottom of the net. Who isn’t thrilled for Derrick White right now? And to think, he hit this shot on the one-year anniversary of his buzzer-beating putback in Game 6 of last year’s conference finals against the Heat. We have several days here to debate which White highlight was better.
And how about Holiday with that offensive rebound? Of course he was the one to make that play. It’s what he does and who he is as a basketball player. He did it time and again for the champion Bucks in 2021. He did it time and again in this series, from tormenting Tyrese Haliburton into crucial mistakes in Game 2, to stripping the ball from Andrew Nembhard to secure Game 3, to the 1,946 other things he does selflessly to win basketball games.
Basketball heroes in green, everywhere. There’s Al Horford, 37 years old, who gets another opportunity at a much-deserved ring. And Tatum, who scored 26 points, struggling with his shooting but making up for it with relentless defense and rebounding in the final minutes. And Brown, who positively beamed while his teammates engulfed him after he was announced as the series MVP.
They’re all headed to the NBA Finals because they went out and did the one thing we weren’t sure they could do. They seized a tight game, imposed their will, made all the big plays, and the small ones, too. They executed, and they closed, and this admirable team fooled us all, all along.
Turns out they were just waiting until the stakes were high to prove they could do it.
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