The Boston Celtics took a commanding 3-0 lead in the eastern conference finals this past Saturday over the Indiana Pacers. No team has come back from a 3-0 lead in the NBA playoffs, Boston came very close last season vs the Miami Heat but fell short of a magnificent feat. With game 4 on the horizon this is what to look out for.

What to look out for:

The first thing to watch out for is what outfit Tyrese Haliburton will be wearing on the bench because he will still be out for Game 4 with Hamstring soreness. Look for the rookie Ben Shephard to get the nod next to Andrew Nembhard with TJ McConnell getting starter like minutes off the bench. Prediction time!! I do believe with Haliburton out; Head Coach Rich Carlisle will utilize Doug McDermott more. I know McDermott only played 4 minutes in game 3 but he was a +13 and his size and shooting can help the Pacers at least get one game in this series, it also gives them an extra body to throw at Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. I am a big believer in just letting a guy go out there and eat up 6 fouls while playing free so guys like Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, and Pascal Siakim aren’t getting in foul trouble guarding those guys. For the Pacers to even have a shot in Game 4 they must be able to limit their turnovers. They can easily be up 2-1 in this series if they just took care of the basketball in games 1 & 3. For Boston they need to come out the gate and give the knockout blow from the tip, Jayson Tatum has been magnificent in this series scoring 36 points in games 1 & 3 I expect him to close out this series with another stellar performance.

X-Factors:

Boston Celtics:

Jrue Holiday

Indiana Pacers:

Andrew Nembhard

Prediction:

Indiana 113, Boston 118