Good game, good series, good riddance, good luck, Pacers

It’s easy to dismiss the Indiana Pacers. A sweep is a sweep until it isn’t.

Before the playoffs started, I was texting with a friend of mine (a Knicks fan) about matchups and predictions for the postseason. 1) He nailed the Kristaps Porzingis injury against the Heat, but 2) I mentioned not wanting to face the Pacers.

During the regular season, Boston took the series 3-2, a substantial sample size that included blowouts for both teams, questionable officiating, and an In-Season Tournament matchup. The Celtics and Pacers finished #1 and #2 respectively in (all-time) offensive efficiency and nearly every game felt like it could have gone either way — a precursor to what the Eastern Conference Finals would look like.

Jaylen Brown and the Cs stole Game 1, won Game 2 convincingly at TD Garden, and mounted massive comebacks in both Games 3 and 4 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Consider what Boston faced in three of their wins:

• a 5-point deficit with 1:57 left in Game 1
• an 8-point deficit with 2:38 left Game 3
• an 8-point deficit with 5:56 left Game 4

Frankly, it’s conceivable that Indiana could be up 3-1 heading into a do-or-die Game 5 back in Boston on Wednesday night.

Alas, that isn’t the case. The Celtics are taking home the Bob Cousy trophy. Jaylen Brown will have the Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP in tow. Boston is heading to their second Finals trip in three years. But front of mind after the buzzer on Monday night was the admiration and respect they had for Indiana.

“So much credit goes to the Pacers,” Jrue Holiday said after making game-sealing plays in both games in Indianapolis. “They’re a really good team and I think every game besides Game 2 could have gone either way. So much credit to them.”

Derrick White echoed those sentiments. “First off, congrats and a lot of respect for Indiana, their team, their coaching staff. They just would not go away. Four games, forty-eight minutes, each game has been a grind, a battle. We knew that going in. They’re here for a reason and they’re a really good team and so credit to them.”

Who knows what the outcome might be with a healthy Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, and Kristaps Porzingis in the series. Those questions are for the talking heads and critics to bandy about for the next couple of days. Ironically, head coach Joe Mazzulla was quick to compare the Pacers to the basketball media.

“This team is very similar to [the media]: they create a lot of noise and you have to decipher what’s true, what shots you’re willing to live with, and which ones you’re going to take away,” Mazzulla said.

But for the people on the ground, the players that are actually playing, the gap isn’t as wide as many Celtics detractors make it out to be.

“They’re a team that did not quit. Their fight is unbelievable,” Al Horford said. “They didn’t make excuses. They continued to play and they pushed us to the edge.”

Even without Haliburton, they pushed and pushed and pushed. You can only take so much away from an NBA team and throughout the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics were successful limiting the Pacers’ threes and shots at the rim. In turn, Indiana caught fire in the mid-range, prompting Brown to compare them, particularly TJ McConnell, to Michael Jordan.

That may be playful hyperbole to break up the intensity of the playoffs, but for those in the know, this was an ultracompetitive series that took ridiculous shotmaking, clutch defense, and a lot of luck to make it appear less than. Andrew Nembhard is a star, Pascal Siakam is extremely underrated, Aaron Nesmith is a constant source of regret, Rick Carlisle is a helluva coach, and yes, TJ McConnell is Michael Jordan.

There will be an entire summer to sort out who the contenders will be in the East next season. The Knicks will get healthy, Giannis Antetokounmpo will have the Bucks near the top of the conference again, and Philadelphia has options to build around Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

But don’t count out Indiana. The Celtics sure didn’t.