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'I don’t believe what I just saw!!!' - Fans react as Boston Celtics beat Indiana Pacers in Game 3

Basketball: Boston Celtics overcome an 18-point deficit to defeat Indiana Pacers 114-111 on Saturday night, taking a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

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Varun Sarwate
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Boston Celtics (Source: NBA)

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Despite being sick, Jrue Holiday made the game-winning steal with 38 seconds remaining and converted the game's winning three-point play to help Boston Celtics overcome an 18-point deficit to defeat Indiana Pacers 114-111 on Saturday night, taking a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

Jayson Tatum equaled his playoff career high with 36 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists. Jaylen Brown scored 24 points, and Al Horford added 23 points and seven three-pointers as the Celtics won their sixth straight playoff game and remained flawlessly on the road in playoffs.

Andrew Nembhard scored a career-high 30 points for the Pacers before Jrue Holiday stole the ball with 3.3 seconds remaining. T.J. McConnell ended with 23 points, nine rebounds, and six assists, while Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam each had 22 points. 

Indiana was missing All-NBA guard Tyrese Haliburton, who was out with a left hamstring injury, and he was sorely missed as Boston ended the game on a 13-2 run. The Pacers' first loss in seven postseason home games. 

With Haliburton out, the sellout fans, dressed mostly in gold chequered flag shirts bearing scores of individual stamps of Indiana's state outline as part of the Indianapolis 500 weekend celebration, helped infuse enthusiasm. 

Boston Celtics secure its sixth consecutive road victory in the playoffs

However, Holiday's huge layup, the subsequent free throw, and the game's defensive performance calmed the fans down. He finished with two free throws with 1.1 seconds left. Indiana had an opportunity to force overtime, but Aaron Nesmith's 3-pointer missed the mark.

It was a crazy game, with Indiana leading by 18 points in the second quarter and again in the third. But Boston reacted the second time by forcing a flurry of mistakes, which resulted in a 13-4 run to pull within 90-81 after three quarters. 

The Celtics had just gotten begun. Boston started the fourth quarter on a 9-3 run, cutting the lead to 93-90 on Horford's three with 8:29 left. After Indiana regained a 107-99 lead with 3:05 left, Boston Celtics went on a 13-2 run to secure its sixth consecutive road victory in the playoffs. A Game 4 victory in Indianapolis on Monday would secure Boston's second trip to the NBA Finals in three seasons. 

Here are twitter reaction to the news:

 

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