2024 NBA Playoff Update
2024 NBA Playoff Update
Wow! What a game that was last night, right?
In the only days, had the Pacers built up a lead the way that they did with as little time remaining in the game as was the case, surely Indiana would have won.
That's not the case in today's offense heavy, very high-scoring NBA.
To be honest, it still feels to me that Indiana should have found a way to close the Celtics out. Even without their biggest star, Tyrese Haliburton, in the game for them, the Pacers still had every opportunity to win Game 3.
But give Boston credit. When it was time to respond, they did exactly that.
The Celtics suddenly took advantage of every possession. They couldn't miss towards the end, taking advantage of every possession and every opportunity. Also, suddenly and simultaneously, the defensive pressure that the Celtics put on Indiana seemed to throw the Pacers off their game. They couldn't get any buckets, couldn't take advantage of their possessions. The same thing that bothered me about their possessions in the Kicks series - particularly carelessness with their possessions with reckless passing and unnecessarily fancy or cute. That felt like the case this time around, as well.
One way or the other, it just felt like the momentum swung, quickly yet completely. One moment, it seemed to be Indiana's game to lose. The next moment, sure enough, the Celtics applied pressure, and the acers unraveled under that pressure.
For the Pacers, it felt like there were just too many missed and even bad shots, too many turnovers and wasted possessions when they should have managed to keep their composure.
As for the Celtics, they responded like champions, which I am predicting that they will be at the end of this postseason.
Boston now owns what sure feels like an insurmountable 3-0 series lead. No team in NBA history has ever overcome a deficit of 0-3 before, and it just does not feel like Indiana is playing well enough to challenge that record, either. In fact, it felt like the Pacers almost crowned the Celtics as Eastern Conference Champions last night with their unraveled performance right at the end, when it mattered the most.
Western Conference Finals - Series Nodded Up, 1-1
The Western Conference Finals feel like they should be more competitive than the Eastern Conference, even though Dallas has put the Timberwolves into a similar hole that Indiana now faces.
Admittedly, I had assumed that Minnesota would come out firing on all cylinders. But it feels like maybe that series against the Nuggets took something out of them. They are not closing out games when they need to.
Or maybe Dallas is simply better than I had assumed. That also could be the case.
One way or the other, the Mavericks have managed to put the T-Wolves into basically the same situation that the Wolves put the Nuggets in during the Western Conference Semifinals, taking the first two road games, and now presumably ready to come home and really apply the pressure.
That said, Minnesota is a very talented team. Also, they seem to play particularly well on the road. Remember, they won three of the four games in Denver in that last series.
So that is why, despite the Wolves being down 0-2, and having dropped their first two games at home, I still suspect that they will make this series competitive. Remember, they lost both of their first two home games in the last series, as well. They also appeared to be down and almost out, after a convincing loss in Denver in Game 5 which was their third straight loss, and put them in a 3-2 series hole, facing elimination in two consecutive games. They responded beautifully, and eventually knocked off the defending champion Nuggets.
I will go ahead and predict that Minnesota will respond with a win on the road in Game 3 at Dallas.
Let's see what happens.
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