By CNN
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The Boston Celtics prevailed in a closely contested matchup with the Indiana Pacers to win 105-102 and complete a four-game sweep to advance to the NBA Finals Monday night in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Celtics star Jaylen Brown scored 29 points and six rebounds in the victory. He was named Eastern Conference Finals MVP. Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum added 26 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists to lift the Celtics to a second NBA Finals appearance in the past three years.
“It’s special, right. Even though we’ve been there before, most of us have. We don’t take it for granted, we were excited,” Tatum said after the game. “It was a hell of a team we just played. They made us earn every single game and we’re extremely grateful to move on to the Finals.”
The Pacers, who were playing without All-Star Tyrese Haliburton for a second consecutive game due to a hamstring strain, held a 98-90 lead over the Celtics with just under six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. However, Boston outscored Indiana 15-4 to close the game out, finishing with a Derrick White 3-pointer from the corner with 43.9 seconds left to give the Celtics a 105-102 lead.
Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, who scored a team-high 24 points, had a chance to tie the game with 33.6 seconds remaining, but missed his 3-point attempt. Indiana did not get possession of the ball for the remainder of the game.
The Celtics came from behind for the second straight game, after they overcame an eight-point deficit to take Game 3.
“We thanked our players a few moments ago for an amazing season, a magical season,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said after the game. “The level of fight was just tremendous all the way through this. Circumstance never phased them, one way or the other, they were in this to win every possession that they could and any game that they could, and so a lot of respect to our players and just how they conducted themselves in the series.”
Boston will play the winner of the Western Conference Finals series between the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves. The Mavericks hold a 3-0 series lead over the Timberwolves.
