[Cactus Jack]

Indiana pulls off a mild upset against the worn-out Knicks to move on. 

Boston pulled off the gentlemen's sweep against Cleveland. Porzingis' health will be at the forefront of discussion.

Anyone willing to give the Pacers a chance to win more than one or two games in this series, because I'm certainly not going to, even if the Celtics haven't been overly impressive so far.

[-STAT-]

Think it could possibly be another gentleman's sweep. Seen some reports where Porzingis could possibly be back around game 3, obviously would be on a minutes threshold especially with how great their bigs are playing in their respective roles, Big Al & Kornet(sparingly). It all revolves around Tatum & Brown, but need their role players to continue playing great, especially D-White.

Indy has been a great offensive team all season, but efficiently one of the worst defensive, that was the regular season though. They've definitely stepped it up in the playoffs, with how intense playoff basketball is you have no other choice if you want to survive & advance. That Siakam trade has paid off pretty nicely despite the slow start after the trade, but a solid young core to build around with Siakam, Turner, and Halliburton.

I'll take Boston 4-1 and moving onto the NBA Finals.

[-STAT-]

What a game 1! One thing Boston hasn't had much this whole season are close games, or moments of adversity, last night they had both in a big way. But they came up huge in clutch, Jaylen Brown hitting that shot was a dagger in Indiana's back, and only the first game. As the old adage goes, up by 3, do you foul? A lot of people are criticizing Indiana for not doing just that, even though Carlisle came out and said he told his team to foul, Siakam didn't look to get there in time to commit the foul before the shot, so he had to adjust and move out of the way before Brown got the shot up, that is also the scenario you run into is fouling while in the act of shooting, so its a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation. Tatum continues his great play after a lackluster start to the playoffs, role players are doing their thing. Can Boston come out in game 2 and ride this wave of momentum? Or will Indiana come out ready to play and steal homecourt? This series doesn't have the intrigue of the WCF, but should still be a great one to follow & watch.

[-STAT-]

Didn't get to watch game 2 unfortunately, but did see some highlights. Brown brought it w/ 40, carrying over the momentum from that big shot in game 1. Talked about it before how poor Indiana is defensively, and it's definitely showing at the wrong time as they fall in an 0-2 hole. Homecourt has proven to be great not only for them but most teams throughout these playoffs, so they'll look to bounce back (hopefully not)
Also have to wonder if Porzingis will be available, read some reports he could be back around games 3-4 of this series, I'm sure he will be on a pitch count if he does come back.

[plantmanky]

Pacer choke jobs are getting old.

[Cactus Jack]

Celtics close it out. You can only play the teams put in front of you, but this might be one if the easiest paths to a Final that I can remember.

Here's to hoping that Dallas (and Luka) have plenty left in the tank and we get an entertaining final.

[-STAT-]

Been away for a a few days, but it does feel great to say Boston is back in The Finals!

Much respect to Indiana for making it all the way to the ECF, a great season. You have to give it to them, they showed up and competed hard especially after Haliburton went out w/ the hamstring injury.

I guess one big knock on Boston most of the season has been their lack of close game, and clutch situations. Breezing through a 64 win regular season where you didn't have many of those moments, and the times they did they failed to capitalize more than they did. Well they sure put those talks to bed w/ the last 2 games, on the road as well. Down late in the game, they made some huge plays, especially on the defensive end and made Indy pay offensively.

I hate this ongoing story that Boston has had the easiest path to The Finals of all time, w/ Butler being out for Miami, Mitchell for Cleveland, and now Haliburton for Indiana. You play who you play! Boston has no controls over injuries, Boston hasn't been healthy either, heck at this point in the season no one is at 100%. But it doesn't matter who is in or out for any respective team, you play who you play.

As for all that, GO CELTICS.