Celtics-Pacers preview: Why Boston is a strong favorite to advance to the NBA Finals

The top-seeded Boston Celtics (64-18) will face the sixth-seeded Indiana Pacers (47-35) in the 2024 Eastern Conference finals. Their last NBA playoff meeting occurred in 2019, when the Celtics swept the Pacers. This past December, Indiana defeated Boston in the quarterfinals of the in-season tournament.

How the Celtics got here

Following an upset loss to the eighth-seeded Miami Heat in the 2023 Eastern Conference finals, Boston is back, making its third straight appearance in the third round of the playoffs — and sixth in eight seasons.

In between, the Celtics won a league-best 64 regular-season games, 14 more than anyone else in the East, and logged a net rating of +11.7, third-highest in NBA history (trailing only Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls). Boston fielded the best top six in basketball, full of current and former All-Star-caliber contributors.

Boston faced little resistance through the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Heat were without the injured Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier for the entirety of the opening round. Likewise, the Cleveland Cavaliers did not have Jarrett Allen for the entire conference semifinals and Donovan Mitchell for Games 4 and 5. The Celtics disposed of both teams in five games, posting an even better net rating of +12.8.

Jayson Tatum and the Celtics will be well-rested for the East finals. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

How the Pacers got here

All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton began the season as an early MVP candidate for the young, run-and-gun Pacers, leading them to the championship game of the inaugural in-season tournament. A left hamstring injury derailed the second half of his campaign, right around the time Indiana acquired two-time All-NBA forward Pascal Siakam from the Toronto Raptors. The team won 47 games and finished the regular season rated second in offense (120.5 points per 100 possessions) — behind only these Celtics.

It never quite felt like the Pacers hit their stride in the final few months of the regular season, but a first-round playoff matchup against the Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks primed their confidence. The Bucks were also…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-05-20 18:35:37

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