INDIANAPOLIS — Derrick White stood calmly in the center of the court Monday night as his teammates celebrated a victory.
He saw Al Horford run toward the coaching staff looking for his son long before Jayson Tatum tossed the ball high in the air and Jaylen Brown hoisted the Eastern Conference Finals MVP trophy. Coach Joe Mazzulla also shared the moment with his wife.
Meanwhile, White appeared ready to get back to work after he hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 43 seconds left to lead the Boston Celtics to a 105-102 victory, beating the Indiana Pacers 4-0 and booking their second NBA Finals appearance in three years.
“Great shot. Two-on-one reads, we work on that all the time,” Brown said after finishing with 29 points, six rebounds and blocking a key shot with 65 seconds left to protect the lead. “I told D. White to be ready beforehand, but that was a big shot. That was a big shot to get us to the finals.”
White finished with just 16 points and made just 1 of 8 3-pointers before his crucial corner shot. Until then, he appeared to be trailing behind Brown, Tatum (26 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists), Jrue Holiday and the 37-year-old Horford.
But when the Celtics needed points to try to win their 18th NBA title in franchise history, a composed White made a shot that will be forever remembered in Boston, where the Celtics will face either Dallas or Minnesota in Game 4 on Tuesday.
The Mavericks lead 3-0 in the best-of-seven Western Conference Finals.
“We feel confident, we feel comfortable playing any type of matchup and we feel like we have an answer for any opponent,” White said. “We just have to find the right answer.”
Boston’s win came exactly one year after White’s tip-in helped the Celtics rally from a 3-0 deficit to tie Miami in the conference finals, only to lose Game 7 at home. Boston has won seven straight playoff games this year, is 6-0 on the road and 3-0 in elimination games.
It was never going to be easy against the Pacers, who were a perfect 6-0 record on their home court before ending the season with two straight losses at a packed Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Indiana had lost the series three times despite leading or being tied in the final minute, and that happened again Monday when Boston was shut out for the final 3 1/2 minutes.
Coach Rick Carlisle promised the team would fight hard to extend their season, and as always, this young roster did not disappoint.
In the third quarter, Pacers center Myles Turner tackled guard White to the ground, and Brown, the reigning Series MVP, grabbed Turner by the shoulders, leading to a brief emotional exchange between the two teams when Turner shoved him. Turner was called for an offensive foul and Brown and Turner were each assessed technical fouls.
There was also a scary moment when Brown’s hand hit TJ McConnell in the face, sending him falling to the ground – the officials called it a common foul after reviewing replay – but the two brawls didn’t change the nature of the game or the series, and the Pacers never backed down.
“The guys bought into it,” Carlisle said of his team’s effort without Haliburton and throughout the playoffs. “You have to give them credit for what they did at the end of the last two games. They just made more plays.”
Andrew Nembard had 24 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, but missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer late in the game and the Pacers didn’t get the ball back after that. Pascal Siakam added 19 points and 10 rebounds for Indiana, while TJ McConnell had 15 points and Aaron Nesmith had 14 points.
But the Celtics regained the upper hand late in the game.
Tatum’s dunk with 3:12 left put the score at 102-100, Brown’s mid-range jumper tied the score with 2:40 left, and then White’s 3-pointer gave them the lead.
Boston forced two turnovers in between, and Brown blocked a short Nembard shot at the rim with 1:05 left. Indiana had one more chance when Tatum missed a 3-pointer with 8 seconds left, but Jrue Holiday chased down the rebound and ran out the clock before Indiana was fouled.
“They fought us hard until the end. They have a lot of team pride. They didn’t want to give up,” said a relieved Tatum. “We’d been missing the Bunny all night. We knew it was time for us to go for it. It was a big chance.”
