Celtics vs Pacers live score, updates from Game 4: NBA playoffs live blog
Celtics beat on the boards — 9:25 p.m.
By Chad Finn
Pacers have outrebounded the Celtics, 25-20, including eight offensive to the Celtics’ five.
End 2nd: Celtics 58, Pacers 57 — 9:15 p.m.
By Katie McInerney
That’s the first half. Celtics 58, Pacers 57. Andrew Nembhard’s shot bounces in at the buzzer. Some notes …
- Tatum and Nembhard lead all scorers with 16 each.
- Boston and Indiana are both shooting 40 percent from 3. But the Pacers overall shooting mark, at 46.8 percent, is a lot cooler than it was in the first half of Game 3, when Indiana shot 63.6 percent from the field.
- Tough go of it for Xavier Tillman. In 6:38, he had two blocked shots and a turnover. Luke Kornet has yet to see the floor despite being available.
Celtics getting out in transition — 9:05 p.m.
By Katie McInerney, Chad Finn, and Adam Himmelsbach
Tatum makes the steal and dishes to Brown, who lays in a dunk on the run to put the Celtics back up, 48-46. 5:17 to play in the first half. — McInerney
Jaylen Brown is 3 for 10 with one assist and two turnovers. Forcing it too much. (He’ll probably have a huge second half.) — Finn
Jaylen’s been really good in these playoffs, but the free-throw shooting has to make people a bit uneasy.He’s now 44 for 71 in the postseason. — Himmelsbach
Pritchard doing the dirty work — 8:55 p.m.
By Katie McInerney and Chad Finn
Payton Pritchard gets fouled by Doug McDermott on the offensive rebound after the Celtics missed three shots in a row — a Tatum pull-up 3, a block on a Tillman layup, and a Brown missed 3. Tatum finishes the job with an and-1 layup, and it’s tied 42-42 with 7:22 to play. — McInerney
Jrue Holiday has hit all three of his shots, including two early 3s, and yet he’s played the least of any Celtics starter at 11 minutes. Odd. — Finn
Celtics fans well-represented in Indy — 8:42 p.m.
By Katie McInerney and Chad Finn
Fans right below the upper-deck media seating are starting a small but loud “Let’s Go Celtics!” chant as Pascal Siakam misses his second three throw. It’s 32-30 with 10:40 to play. — McInerney
Don’t see a ton of Celtics gear in the stands, but there was a big roar after Horford hit a 3 to put the Celtics up 32-29. This place might turn into TD Garden Midwest if the Celtics can build a sizable lead. — Finn
End 1st: Celtics 29, Pacers 27 — 8:42 p.m.
By Katie McInerney and Chad Finn
That’s the end of the first quarter. The Celtics lead, 29-27. Some notes:
- The Pacers have more scoring from their bench (16 points from Toppin, McConnell, and McDermott) than their starters (11 points).
- The crowd went wild for T.J. McConnell’s buzzer-beating lay-up at the end of the quarter. He has 8 points in 5:30.
- The Celtics shot twice as many 3s as the Pacers on Saturday. The numbers are closer to even tonight (5 for 10 for Boston, 3 for 9 for Indy). — McInerney
The Celtics’ defense needs to pick it up. Jaylen has had a great view of a couple of McConnell’s buckets. — Finn
Aliyah Boston, the Fever star who grew up in Central Massachusetts before starring at South Carolina, is here at the game with some of her teammates. The team has been out of town this weekend but opens a three-game homestand here tomorrow. — McInerney
Celtics, Pacers trading triples — 8:30 p.m.
By Katie McInerney, Chad Finn, and Khari Thompson
Sam Hauser checks in for the Celtics at 5:48 of the first. It’ll be interesting to see if he can get anything going. He’s 0 for 9 from 3 in the series. … And he knocks down a 3 on his first attempt on a nice dish from Jaylen Brown. — Finn
The Celtics call a time out after Doug McDermott hits a contested 3 over Sam Hauser. 23-20, Celtics, with 3:02 to play in the first quarter. — McInerney
Xavier Tillman is getting some early minutes to give Al Horford a little time to rest on the bench. Luke Kornet is available after missing Game 3 with a wrist injury, but Tillman gets the first look as far as bigs off the bench — Thompson
Jrue Holiday heating up early — 8:20 p.m.
By Katie McInerney, Chad Finn, and Khari Thompson
Jrue Holiday swishes one in right over Aaron Nesmith for his first points of the night. Holiday was questionable to play this morning, as he’s been battling a fever the past few days. — McInerney
Jrue just hit another transition three. He’s feeling it early. C’s are extra dangerous when they get him going along with the Jays. — Thompson
The Celtics have hit four of their first six 3-point attempts and just one 2-pointer while building a 14-8 lead just before the 7-minute mark. — Finn
We’re underway — 8:15 p.m.
By Amin Touri
Game 4 is underway in Indiana. Follow along with us for updates and analysis throughout the night.
Final notes before tip-off — 8:05 p.m.
By Katie McInerney
We’re almost ready for tip here at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. A few things to know …
- Once again, we have a sellout of 18,000-plus. Every fan received a gold shirt that reads: “In 49 states it’s just basketball, but this is Indiana.” No comment on if the people of Indiana know basketball was created in Massachusetts.
- When exiting the court during shootaround, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens got a big cheer from the crowd. Stevens, an Indiana native, played Division 3 basketball at DePauw before joining Butler as an assistant and climbing the ranks before being named head coach in 2007. He took the Bulldogs, who play at Hinkle Fieldhouse here in Indiana, to back-to-back NCAA championship games in 2010 and 2011, losing to Duke and UConn, respectively
- The public announcer honored the late Bill Walton, who died Monday at age 71, and got big cheers when he mentioned Walton’s winning a title with the 1986 Celtics.
- No surprises with the starters: Brown, Holiday, Horford, Tatum, and White for the Celtics. Nembhard, Nesmith, Sheppard, Siakam, and Turner for the Pacers.
Pregame shots — 7:45 p.m.
Ahead of tip-off, here’s a look at Gainbridge Fieldhouse through the lens of the Globe photo staff.
Derrick White superfans, tap in — 7:30 p.m.
By Katie McInerney
How’s this for fandom? I spotted this family outside Gainbridge Fieldhouse a few hours before the game and had to ask for a photo. It turns out the six of them drove the four-and-a-half hours from St. Louis — home of Jayson Tatum, they reminded me. After the game, they’re hopping back in the car to head home.
Finn: Walton was one of one — 7:15 p.m.
By Chad Finn
Basketball-reference.com tells us that exactly 515 men have played at least one game for the Boston Celtics.
For many, and perhaps most, among that fortunate 515, wearing the green and white was a high point of their lives, a treasured time and opportunity.
Some may have cherished being a Celtic as much as Bill Walton did.
No one could have cherished it more.
Read the full column.
Where does Game 3 rank in Tatum’s career? — 7:00 p.m.
By Chad Finn
Jayson Tatum has played in 107 playoff games in his seven-year NBA career. It is not a challenge to identify his best performance.
It has to be his 46-point effort in Game 6 of the 2022 Eastern Conference semifinals against the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks. The Celtics trailed, 3-2, in the series. They were on the road. It looked bleak.
The Bucks were coming off a Game 5 win in which this one-man defensive scheme named Jrue Holiday — perhaps you have heard of him? — made two sensational late plays, including a midcourt steal against Marcus Smart that suddenly looks awfully familiar.
Tatum’s best playoff game? No doubt.
Game 6, Milwaukee, 2022 must be the choice.
Oh, yeah: And we just witnessed the runner-up.
Read the full story.
Dan Shaughnessy on Bill Walton’s time in Boston — 6:45 p.m.
By Dan Shaughnessy
The memories and stories started pouring in as soon as the news broke.
Everyone remotely connected to the 1985-86 Celtics has a Bill Walton memory. Invariably, those stories are personal. And all of us were shocked Monday when it was learned that Walton had died in California at the age of 71.
No player ever loved playing for the Celtics more than Walton. And it’s cruel and ironic that Bill would pass as the team is on the cusp of another appearance in the NBA Finals, which would mean a chance to win an NBA-record 18th banner.
My friend Rich Johnson, longtime curator of the New England Sports Museum and — like Walton — someone with a lifelong stutter, weighed in online, sending out a recording of the Grateful Dead’s “He’s Gone,” while writing, “Listening while wiping away tears. His personal kindness to me was life changing.”
Read the full column here.
Holiday, Kornet available; Haliburton out — 6:25 p.m.
By Katie McInerney
The Celtics announce Jrue Holiday (illness) and Luke Kornet (wrist) are both available for tonight.
Holiday was also questionable to play before Saturday’s Game 3, but finished with the second-most minutes of any Celtic other than Jaylen Brown.
Kornet has been out since Game 2, when he injured his wrist in the first quarter. Oshae Brissett has been getting more minutes in Kornet’s absence.
Tyrese Haliburton is also out, coach Rick Carlisle announced.
Haliburton, who missed most of January with a hamstring injury during the regular season, exited Game 2 with the same issue and missed Game 3.
An All-NBA third team selection this season, Haliburton averaged 19.2 points and 8.3 assists in the playoffs before suffering the injury.
Catching up with Rajon Rondo — 6:15 p.m.
By Gary Washburn
The man standing above the Boston media seating at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, observing from his suite, has a different look than during his Celtics days. He drove two hours from his native Louisville with his family to watch his former team close in on the NBA Finals, using the game as a learning tool for his son.
Rajon Rondo kept a low profile as he watched. He did not stroll on the floor pregame to greet Celtics executives or players. He did not want to be recognized. Instead, the former four-time All-Star and NBA player just wanted to offer his first organization his support.
It’s been nearly 10 years since Rondo, now 38, dazzled fans with his passing ability, and that fake behind-the-back that turned into a silky floater off the glass. He’s retired, coaching his son Rajon Jr., a 12-year-old prospect, and decided to reserve a suite to watch Game 3. He openly cheered for the Celtics as they rallied from an 18-point deficit for a 114-111 win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.
Rick Carlisle: ‘We are going after them.’ — 6:00 p.m.
By Khari Thompson
It didn’t take long for the anger in Rick Carlisle’s voice to surface during his postgame press conference.
The Pacers blew a late fourth-quarter lead for the second time in three games, and the mere mention of how Indiana lost Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals after being up 8 with less than three minutes to go irked him.
Carlisle waved his hand and cut off the first question after his opening statement Saturday night before it was finished.
“I just watched the ending,” Carlisle said. “So, you don’t need to remind me. I saw everything that happened. Everything. Everything. Everything that happened, yeah. Anybody else?”
The Pacers have no choice but to come at the Celtics even harder in Game 4, Carlisle said. They are in a position no team in NBA history has ever come back from, trailing Boston, 3-0.
Carlisle was asked why he believes his group is capable of making the comeback.
“We’ve got to look at what’s in front of us,” Carlisle said. “We’ve got the best fans in the NBA here, we’ve got the greatest basketball building on the planet, and we’ve got another game in front of them to go after those guys, and believe me when I tell you we are going after them.”
Amin Touri can be reached at [email protected]. Katie McInerney can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @k8tmac. Chad Finn can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @GlobeChadFinn. Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach. Khari Thompson can be reached at [email protected].
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