The Pacers look to gain some footing along with a little momentum in their playoff series against the Celtics on Friday night when the two teams meet in Game 3 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Solid efforts by the Pacers in both Game 1 and Game 2 turned into opportunities lost as they failed to put together the full 48 minutes of winning effort required to win on the road in the playoffs. The Celtics have their star and closer in Kyrie Irving humming along as expected and after an inconsistent regular season, second-year stud, Jayson Tatum rose up in Game 2 to show he still has the goods as a dynamic wingman for Kyrie. So, no, don’t expect the Celtics to be giving away games. The Pacers instead have to go win it at home, where they will have the crowd in their corner and fallen star, Victor Oladipo in attendance for moral support. To a man, all of the key players in the Pacers rotation can deliver more than they have thus far despite the frustrating losses. We’ll see if they come out fighting with the collective backs against the wall. Game Information: Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN When: 8:30 p.m. ET TV: ESPN/FOX Sports Indiana Radio: 107.5 FM/AM 1070 The Fan Projected Starting Lineups: Pacers: Darren Collison, Wesley Matthews, Bojan Bogdanovic, Thaddeus Young, Myles Turner Celtics: Kyrie Irving, Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Aron Baynes Injury update: IND: Victor Oladipo (right knee) - out BOS: Marcus Smart (Oblique) - out Please leave your thoughts and observations on the game in the comments.<doc-sep>INDIANAPOLIS — Victor Oladipo couldn't make it for Game 3 because of issues with travel, but he better get here quickly or else. The Indiana Pacers' season could be over this weekend. Their top-rated scoring defense didn't appear for the first 12 minutes Friday. The Pacers almost overcame a 41-point first quarter when the Boston Celtics knocked down eight 3s, but Indiana didn't have enough to win Game 3, falling 104-96 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Pacers trail the best-of-seven series 3-0. NBA and ABA teams are 0-146 all-time in that scenario. Tyreke Evans (19 points) led a first-half comeback for the Pacers, who lost the first two games at TD Garden unable to break 100 points. But Evans played just 10 minutes and scored four points in the final two quarters after his 15-point first half. MORE FROM THE NBA PLAYOFFS Kyrie Irving (19 points, 10 assists) couldn't reproduce his series-high 37 points that led Boston to a comeback win in Game 2. He didn't need to with Al Horford (15 points, eight rebounds, four assists) hitting clutch jumpers in the fourth with the Pacers' defense helping to stop the point guard in the paint. Jaylen Brown (game-high 23 points, six rebounds) and Jayson Tatum (18 points, seven rebounds) did most of the damage while Horford continued to be the unsung piece in the high post who makes the Celtics flow on both ends. The Pacers had answers in the form of Evans, who played 21 minutes, Myles Turner (13 points, seven rebounds), Domantas Sabonis (12 points, seven rebounds, six assists), Thaddeus Young (11 points, nine rebounds, three steals) and Wesley Matthews (11 points) to help Bojan Bogdanovic (15 points). Game 4 is here Sunday. The Pacers had a 33-point second quarter to make themselves viable again with just one field goal from Bogdanovic, their leading scorer. Young made all four of his shots and Evans went 4-for-5. But they managed just 12 points in the third quarter, continuing their pattern of having one horrendous offensive quarter in each game. Coach Nate McMillan went away from Doug McDermott who lasted just five minutes, had two fouls and didn't score. The Pacers only had 11 turnovers, but their lack of shooting caught up to them in the end. They went 34-for-81 (42%) overall. They shot 3-for-15 on 3s in the second half with Bogdanovic going 2-for-8 from long range. The Indianapolis Star is part of the USA TODAY Network.<doc-sep>Game Recap The Pacers were hoping for a different result back at home, but Game 3 against the Celtics followed a similar script to Games 1 and 2 in Boston. Indiana once again showed it could hang with Boston, but endured another second-half shooting slump and came up short in a 104-96 loss at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. With the win, the Celtics take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series. "It's our end-of-game execution, that's all it comes down to," Pacers center Myles Turner said. "We're playing good enough defense to win, but we've got to score." Tyreke Evans led Indiana with 19 points off the bench in the loss — 15 of them coming in the first half — while Bojan Bogdanovic finished with 15 points, five rebounds, and four assists in the loss. Celtics forward Jaylen Brown led all scorers with 23 points, going 8-for-9 from the field and 4-for-5 from 3-point range. All-Star guard Kyrie Irving added 19 points, 10 assists, and five rebounds for Boston. PLAYOFF CENTRAL: Follow the Pacers' Postseason Run » The Pacers scored the first three points of Game 3, but the Celtics dominated the next several minutes with an 18-4 run. Boston extended its lead to as many as 15 points in the opening frame thanks to its 3-point shooting. The visitors went 8-for-10 from beyond the arc in the first quarter, with Brown knocking down all three of his attempts and adding a dunk for good measure. The Celtics took a 41-28 lead into the second quarter, but that's when Evans took over. The 6-6 guard scored 12 points in the first seven minutes of the period, capped by a 3-pointer that tied the game at 52. "I just came in and thought I was patient," Evans said after the game. "I didn't really force anything." Indiana finally took its first lead since the opening minutes on Wesley Matthews' 3-pointer from the left corner with 1:22 remaining in the half. Al Horford's layup with 43.1 seconds left tied the game once again, but Darren Collison's bucket on the other end gave the Blue & Gold a two-point lead at the break. Come for the Stay for the archery @WessyWes23 pic.twitter.com/eglDK8MbX5 — Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) April 20, 2019 Unfortunately, the Pacers once again went cold after halftime. After scoring just eight points in the third quarter of Game 1 and 12 in the fourth quarter of Game 2, Indiana had another nightmare frame on Wednesday, tallying just 12 points in the third quarter on 5-of-23 shooting. Fortunately the Celtics weren't much better for most of the quarter, going 7-for-24 themselves, though they closed the frame with six unanswered points to take an 80-73 advantage into the fourth. "Third quarter, we lost our patience," Pacers head coach Nate McMillan said. "We weren't patient, we started taking some quick, contested shots, bailing them out. I thought defensively we didn't have patience, we lost the rhythm, lost momentum. That carried out throughout the game." The Pacers chipped away at Boston's lead, getting within one after Matthews was fouled beyond the arc and hit all three free throws with 6:05 to play. But Irving answered with a layup on the ensuing possession to keep the Celtics in front. Irving subsequently converted a contested fadeaway jumper, then drove and kicked to Horford for a 3-pointer that pushed Boston's lead back to seven with 3:32 remaining. "I thought they did a great job of running their sets and really executing," Collison said. "They played off one another. Jaylen Brown had his moments, Kyrie, Gordon Hayward, Terry (Rozier), Al Horford — it just seemed like they had their moments with each guy." The Pacers were unable to even make it a one-possession game the rest of the way, as Irving and the Celtics held on to secure the win and control of the series. Seven Pacers reached double figures in the loss. Turner tallied 13 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks, while fellow center Domantas Sabonis had 12 points, seven boards, and six assists off the bench. Matthews and Thaddeus Young added 11 points each, while Collison scored 10. Jayson Tatum finished with 18 points and seven rebounds for the Celtics, while Horford had another solid all-around performance, racking up 16 points, eight boards, and four assists. The Pacers will look to avoid being swept on Sunday afternoon when they host Game 4 at 1:00 PM ET. "Sunday's a big game," McMillan said. "It's do-or-die for us. It's as simple as that." Photo Credit: Jessica Hoffman Inside the Numbers Boston's 41 points in the first quarter were the most by a Pacers opponent in the opening frame all season. They allowed 40 points to Golden State on Jan. 28. Evans' 19 points matched his playoff career high. He also scored 19 points for New Orleans in a Game 3 loss to the Warriors on April 23, 2015. Indiana outscored Boston 34-22 in points in the paint on Friday. After starting 8-for-10, the Celtics went 15-for-34 from 3-point range in Game 3. The Pacers were 11-for-30, but just 3-for-15 in the second half. The Pacers scored 20 points off 13 Boston turnovers while only allowing 10 points off their 11 giveaways. Irving recorded his fourth career postseason double-double on Friday. He had three while playing for Cleveland, one against Boston in 2015 and two in consecutive games against Toronto in 2017. You Can Quote Me On That "He's a great player. He's a playmaker. He's a guy that does a great job of reading the defense. He's unselfish...Those guys were knocking down open shots. He creates opportunities for his teammates as well as for himself." -McMillan on Kyrie Irving "We just have to find the silver lining. That silver lining is that we've been in every single game. All it takes is one win. There definitely won't be any quit in us. We feel like it is still a series." -Collison<doc-sep>The Celtics first round playoff series now shifts to Indianapolis as the team defended their home court and have a 2-0 lead in the series. Boston should feel confident going on the road because the first two games proved they just have more talent on the court than the Pacers. Although, as we have seen many times this season, that does not always result in wins, but this has been a strong start to a postseason run. Going into Game 3, Indiana will be playing with their backs against the wall. Teams normally do not come back from a 3-0 deficit, so this game will be crucial. Also, they will be coming back to Bankers Life Fieldhouse and playing in front of a rowdy Friday night crowd. Their team knows that if they can protect home court, anything can happen in a best of three series. Even with that in mind, the takeaways from the first two games had the Pacers searching for answers. In Game 2, they were hitting many of the shots they could not make in Game 1; however, this was still not enough to keep up with Kyrie Irving and the Celtics. The Pacers played a strong game but still could not get the win. A good snapshot of this series could be that both teams have still yet to eclipse 100 points in either game in this series. All season long the Celtics and Pacers ranked among the top in team defense. It was the main reason the Pacers did not drop down the rankings after the injury to Victor Oladipo. This style and low scoring should continue all series long if no offense is found. It is why the main question moving forward is if one of these teams can start breaking through on offense and take control of the series. Luckily, for the Celtics, the Pacers do not have the offensive weapons to explode for a huge game on a consistent basis. They can get big games from Bojan Bogdanovic, Tyreke Evans, or Wesley Matthews, but those games are not expected more than once or twice in a seven-game series. If the Celtics can just weather the storm and let their stars make plays, the Celtics have more weapons to put this series away. The one Boston superstar that the Pacers have not yet been able to stop is Kyrie Irving. He scored 20 points in the first game and 37 points in the second. In Wednesday night’s game, Kyrie was able to get wherever he wanted whenever he wanted. The Celtics were down in the fourth quarter, and he took the team on his back and carried them across the finish line. Darren Collison had (and still has) no chance of stopping him on defense. This match-up will be the key for the Celtics in Game 3. The home atmosphere will be huge for the Pacers getting their offense back in gear. Because of this, Kyrie will have to match the output while at the same time silencing the crowd. If he can find his rhythm he had in Game 2, then it will be a much higher scoring game than we have seen to this point. Kyrie’s offense will be critical tonight in Indianapolis. The injury report for this game is almost clean for each team outside of Marcus Smart for the Celtics and Victor Oladipo for the Pacers. Oladipo is, of course, out for the Pacers, but Marcus Smart still is eyeing a playoff return possibly next round if the Celtics advance. He was seen earlier today taking some close range shots around the basket. It may not say much about his recovery timeline, but Smart is continuing to work on his touch and routine. Once healthy, he should be able to contribute immediately. Fingers crossed the Celtics are still playing at that time. The bottom line for tonight’s game is that the Pacers will be fighting for their playoff lives. As mentioned, teams rarely come back from a 3-0 deficit, so this game will be everything for them. The Celtics will have to be ready for this and match what they throw at them. Kyrie needs to be the scoring leader because of his ideal match-up with Darren Collision. Boston has the talent, they just need to bring it all together and close down this series as soon as possible. Projected Starters PG – Kyrie Irving – Darren Collison SG – Jaylen Brown – Wesley Matthews SF – Jayson Tatum – Bojan Bogdanovic PF – Al Horford – Thaddeus Young C – Aron Baynes – Myles Turner Injuries Boston – Marcus Smart (Oblique) Indiana- Victor Oladipo (Knee) How To Watch Time- 8:30 EST TV– ABC / NBC Sports Boston<doc-sep>
Jaylen Brown's scoring outburst, Kyrie Irving's double-double and the usual consistent play from Al Horford gave the Celtics the advantage as they defeated the Pacers on their home floor to take a 3-0 series lead The Boston Celtics edged out the Indiana Pacers in yet another close game to take a 3-0 series lead. Jaylen Brown provided the spark for the Celtics offensively, something that is generally out of character for the defensive-minded shooting guard. Brown's 23 points were a game-high, with Kyrie Irving (19 points) and Jayson Tatum (18 points) performing like we've seen so many times before. Al Horford was dominant in this game too, finishing with 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists, including a couple clutch rebounds down the stretch. Tyreke Evans' 19 points off the bench kept the Pacers in this one with five other players joining him in double-figures but their team effort fell just short. With the Celtics one game away from sweeping the Pacers, they'll have to defend their home court to keep their season alive. From more on Boston's Game 3 win in Indiana, we have you covered with takeaways below. Jaylen Brown's big game Jaylen Brown came out gunning and never looked back in Game 3. Earning the start for the third straight game in place of the injured Marcus Smart, Brown made the most of his opportunity. The Celtics' shooting guard went a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, including 3-for-3 on 3-pointers for a total of 12 points in the first quarter. He scored 14 points in the half, more than the Pacers scored in the third quarter as a team. He went on to make his first eight field goal attempts before a heave to beat the shot clock in the fourth quarter spoiled his perfect shooting night. Brown finished as the game's high-scorer with 23 points on 8-for-9 shooting from the field and a 4-for-5 clip from long range. The Celtics have a number of players that can score the ball but Brown isn't generally a name that pops up as one of their premier scorers. When Brown has a game like this one, with their top scorers like Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum still performing like their usual selves, the Celtics become that much harder to beat. Kyrie the closer After a slow start, Kyrie Irving got it going in the second half, and after a back-and-forth game of runs, he decided it was time to shut it down. In a decisive stretch in the fourth quarter, Irving came up with three huge plays to seal the W. First, he blew by Corey Joseph for the pretty one-handed layup to give the Celtics a three-point lead. He followed that up with this playground finish over Domatas Sabonis. ...and on the next posession he drew in the Pacers defence, before kicking to a wide open Al Horford for three to put the Celtics up six. Kyrie dazzles with the handle and finds Horford on the wing! 👌#Celtics 100#GoldDontQuit 94 1:21 left on #NBAonABC pic.twitter.com/Be5HrweohY - NBA (@NBA) April 20, 2019 The 27-year-old finished with 19 points, 10 assists and five rebounds on the night and in a game that could have gone either way, he was the difference down the stretch. Pacers' third-quarter fade out In Game 1, it was an 8-point third quarter. In Game 2, it was a 12-point fourth quarter; and in Game 3 the Pacers did it again, scoring just 12 points in the third quarter give the Celtics control of the game. Coach Nate McMillan warned that the Pacers could not afford to go cold like that again and ultimately, it's what separated the two teams on the night. The Pacers turned a two-point half-time lead into a seven-point deficit at the end of the third, going 5-of-23 from the field as they were outscored 21-12 by the Celtics. Down 3-0 through the series, they can pinpoint one quarter in each of the first three games which has got them in this position. Defence, defence, defence For the third time in three games, the Celtics stout defence was able to hold the Pacers under 100 points. The Pacers are averaging just 87.0 points per game thus far in the series, explaining how they find themselves one game away from elimination.