INSTANT REACTION: Celtics mount massive comeback in thrilling ending of Game 3 vs. Pacers

INSTANT REACTION: Celtics mount massive comeback in thrilling ending of Game 3 vs. Pacers

[Applause] and what a monster fourth quarter for Drew holiday hitting some clutch free throws as well down the stretch there Celtics what was it 15 to four the final three minutes they come back they take this one from the Indiana Pacers take a three nothing series lead 114 111 your final score Tom Gil scal eddieo start with you what’ you think oh I loved it because it was stop score stop score that we needed when we needed to get a stop we got to stop when we need to get a bucket we got the bucket and so let me say this at the end of it all the Boston Celtics are in a battle tonight and everybody’s G to say well who were they playing look they didn’t have Halle Burton out there they’re gon to make every excuse for the fact that we weren’t in a battle right because every everybody’s talking about Well the West is Battle tested this guy they this team over here they’re playing against them and look look at how tough it is the whole time well sometimes it ain’t got to be tough if you don’t got to make it tough but this was a tough game and we persevered we found out resiliency showed up we found a way and this is why we went got Drew holiday let’s talk about it yeah and I would say this is a gutsy win there’s a lot of times when you think they’re down and out they give up a three they give up a and one they give up this but they just kept going and in the second half many runs by the Pacers Pacers played good basketball today this wasn’t two teams limping to the finish the Celtics kept answering the call you know at at one point you’re like man I gonna get back in this game TJ McConnell comes in pushes that lead to nine Chip Away Chip Away chip away as Tom D just said 15 to four to close the game out and they win this game this was a championship level performance start to finish I only saw about two or three lows which those things happen in a game I love the way that they responded today to the adversity of being in Indiana to go up 3 0 yeah how about the fact that all Five Guys on the floor making plays in that 15 to four run whether it was on the defensive end or on the offensive end all five guys making plays Eddie from top to bottom the starters combined for 110 of their 114 points tonight I mean just the the team effort that it took to get this win this is the reason why Brad Stevens is the executive of the year he put together this team not only did he go out and get guys and and and put it together in that way but just the way that that I look at it like this no matter what happened our guy showed up and I I believe in our guys and everybody talks about you know the six and eight and only one finals and me I hear from every direction trust me I it’s it’s haters everywhere they coming from here they come from there they come from over there they coming from every direction I mean I hear it all the time on my phone I even people that I consider my friends are hating on the Celtics okay okay and no matter what it this team is built for a championship run to build for a championship and it’s this year and this it they showed it though they showing Championship medal man you don’t win games like this you you we’re used to them losing games like this is what I’m trying to say yeah and by the way mentioned Drew holiday he had five points going that fourth quarter had nine in the fourth quarter alone including he’s five of five at the free throw line tonight made some real clutch free throws down the stretch there standing by with Abby chin back in Indianapolis Drew congratulations based on the reactions from your teammates they feel like you saved this game for them can you take me through it the an one drive and then also the steel I think the an one I just saw opportunity um I think seak was on his Hill so I just attacked him and and got the n one and then man just I think reacting to refence to the player um we know he likes to drive right and I kind of shoted and got the steal how do you maintain your poise in those moments just stay faithful to to what I’ve been doing uh my whole career uh knowing it’s a blessing to be here so I appreciate every moment that I’m on the court but uh just staying consistent you guys came back from 18 points down what level did this defense have to go to to complete the comeback yeah we had to turn it up uh we know they hadn’t they hadn’t lost at home yet uh we know they play very well at home just like how they started off the game well the first three quarters they they played very very well but we just had to turn it up a atch and hopefully we get one next game this is now the the third win you guys have had in the clutch in these playoffs what is giving you confidence in those moments I think just believing in oursel having faith in oursel that uh we have a very talented team uh everybody can do a lot of things and we trust in each other so and and I think it shows is there any point you guys thought you were out of this game no uh no we’ve been in similar situations we’ve been in Reverse situations and just knowing that time Big Time and and just knowing that if you stick with it uh keep grinding we we can get the win congratulations thank you all right let’s go back through this fourth quarter now as uh Celtics again found themselves down by six Jaylen Brown getting this emphatic dunk over Miles Turner that cut it to four then you got Drew all Derek white finding Drew holiday laying it up and in that actually got it to six how about Jaylen Brown now yeah watch it fade away that was tough that got it to six once again and Jason Tatum meanwhile clutch three at the top of the key cuts it to three then Tatum behind the back to Horford he knocks down a three that made it a two-point game then you got Drew holiday getting the bucket in the foul after the Celtics got the stop on the other end knocked down the free throw to give him a one-point lead and here’s Drew holiday coming up with a steal on Andrew nart and going back the other way and knocking down his free throws after that as well to push it to a three-point lead one last chance for Indiana they drove a pretty good play here pretty good look for nce Smith that’s no good Celtics that hang on they get the 114 111 win as we go back through some of those key moments down the stretch scal all defense we didn’t show any I guess we showed the last one which was bad defense by the way but it was all defense that was getting in people’s airspace contesting shots rebounding the ball and going getting in people’s airspace being physical get a deflection get a steal go that that run it was 15 to four and I know all the offensive plays you got to make those offensive plays to get back in the game but a lot of times our runs today were because of Defense when uh Indiana was playing great they were getting to the paint 42 points in the paint in the first half we sat down defensively and got it done today so that that’s why we won this game and I thought this game showed a lot of guts a lot of guts Championship level guts that I look at this team in now say you know this doesn’t look like game two against Miami or game two against Cleveland this team they just kept going and Drew holiday said Abby asked did you ever believe you weren’t going to get back in this game it never showed that they didn’t believe that they were going to win this game I I believe that they was gonna win this whole time even watching the game it was like as well as Indiana is playing we haven’t hit our stride yet and we’re right there all it takes is a stop score stop score and before you know it you know things start getting T it go from being oh it start getting Tighter and Tighter and Tighter and before you know it you you can’t you know tighter than that booty what they say out there you know what I mean and I’m saying like I don’t know what’s tighter than that I don’t know nothing tighter than a Nat’s butt okay that ain’t nothing tighter than that and so that’s what happened you know and they started freezing they started you know you know you could see it you could see them start pressing and pressing and pressing oh my gosh but but the thing with me though is also our defense how it led to our offense our offense was attacking all those shots our three-point shots came off of attack it wasn’t that we just settled for it one pass somebody getting trying to put in somebody in the mixer and we pull up and take a step back shot no it was off of attack or if it was off of an action they brought two to somebody we make the pass they make the shot Jason Tatum come down the lane they brought two to him around the back you hit um Horford in the corner for the three right Drew holiday attacking the rim so to me all that is byproduct of the defense it’s something I’ve been screaming about all season long is that our offense will be a byproduct of how great our defense can be and when we lock in defensively and that’s what we show right there in that fourth quarter late in that fourth quarter we lock in defensively we’ll be able to get wide open shots we’ll be able to get whatever we want offensively but it all starts on the defensive end and with that defensive mindset by the way too in that third quarter when they had that that 13 to four run Celtics I think had about six blocks seven blocks that’s he came over in they had eight blocks in the third quarter alone it’s all of a sudden it seemed like they they fli the switch there he bet the Celtics to get a lot of blocks today no I did not the only reason why you that would been nice

Tom Giles, Eddie House and Brian Scalabrine offer their instant reaction and analysis to the Celtics’ 114-11 win over the Indiana Pacers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

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