INDIANA Pacers coach Rick Carlisle revealed that the NBA is planning for the Boston Celtics to celebrate their Eastern Conference championship after Game 4 of the NBA Playoffs series.
Carlisle, 64, said his players should use that as motivation to extend the Eastern Conference Finals after falling behind 3-0.
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The Pacers played much better against the Celtics than their deficit suggests.
Indiana came close to stealing Game 1 from Boston at TD Garden before nearly winning Game 3 at home.
Tyrese Haliburton and Co. held the lead in the final minute of regulation in both games.
But each time, late mistakes by the Pacers offered the Celtics a lifeline — and the C’s had no qualms about taking advantage of them.
However, Carlisle told the Pacers reporter Alex Dourado on Sunday, he might have found a way to motivate his players before Game 4.
“When you’re the coach of an NBA team, you tend to get information about things,” he said.
“One thing I heard in the last few minutes is that the league is making logistical plans for the trophy presentation at our stadium tomorrow.
“This is something that I think should make our players’ blood boil and our fans’ blood boil.
“It’s just another layer of motivation to extend the series.”
Carlisle’s comments came after he said the night before that his Pacers would “go after” Boston in Game 4.
“We will not be intimidated,” the Indiana coach told reporters on Saturday.
“We’ll be back here on Monday night looking to extend the series.
“And we will hit them even harder.”
The Pacers played without Haliburton in Game 3 after the 6-foot-2 guard aggravated a hamstring injury he suffered earlier in the season during the previous matchup.
NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs
First round
Boston Celts (1) 4-1 Miami Heat (8)
Cleveland Cavaliers (4) 4-3 Orlando Magic (5)
Milwaukee Bucks (3) 2-4 Indiana Pacers (6)
New York Knicks (2) 4-2 Philadelphia 76ers (7)
Conference Semifinals
Boston Celts (1) 4-1 Cleveland Cavaliers (4)
Indiana Pacers (6) 4-3 New York Knicks (2)
Conference Finals
Boston Celtics (1) x Indiana Pacers (6)
The two-time NBA All-Star felt muscle tightening at halftime of the 126-110 Game 2 loss.
He still left in the second half before leaving the court at the end of the third quarter and subsequently being ruled out for the remainder of the match.
“He tried and gave as much effort as he could,” Carlisle said of Haliburton after the match.
“It wasn’t going well. So the coaches determined he needed to go back and work.”
Haliburton was listed as questionable for Game 4.
No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in a postseason series.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
