The Boston Celtics are one win away from its second finals appearance in three years. Will they pull out the brooms or can the Indiana Pacers extend the series?

Catch the game on Sunday, May 26th, at 8:00 AM, Manila time.

AWAY: Boston Celtics (3-0)

Projected starting five:

• Jrue Holiday 
• Derrick White
• Jaylen Brown
• Jayson Tatum
• Kristaps Porzingis (out) / Al Horford

The Celtics had a roller coaster Game 3. They went in with a ton of confidence knowing they’re up 2-0, undefeated on the road this postseason, and won’t have to deal with Tyrese Haliburton (hamstring). But then, they got outran by the Pacers and trailed by as much as 18 midway into the third quarter. Like good teams do, though, they dug deep and eventually survived, 114-111, to put themselves at the doorsteps of the NBA finals.

While on the heels of iffy performances, Jayson Tatum blasted 36 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists, including five three-pointers. He’s at 31.7 / 9.3 / 5.7 in the series. Jaylen Brown had 24 points, and with a couple of outings where he filled the void, he’s right behind his running mate at 30.0 PPG.

Just like what we’ve seen all year, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White are smoothly complementing their two star scorers with defense, timely offense, all-around hustle. Holiday was a menace and we saw that with that clutch steal on Sunday.

Boston has all the momentum, and despite the Pacers’ unrelenting energy, especially at home, this game is for the Cs to lose.

HOME: Indiana Pacers (0-3)

Projected starting five:

• Tyrese Haliburton (day-to-day) / TJ McConnell
• Andrew Nembhard
• Aaron Nesmith
• Pascal Siakam
• Myles Turner

It’s always fun to watch an underdog duke it out against a heavy favorite, and Sunday was no different. With the team fully integrated into its system, we saw the Pacers’ offense click even without their All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton. Unfortunately, they just were unable to hold off the Celtics’ firepower. They are too raw for what Boston had.

Haliburton is listed as day-to-day leading up to Game 4. He was almost good to go for Sunday, so he may suit up for tomorrow with an extra day of rest, especially since they’re facing elimination in front of the home crowd.

Guards Andrew Nembhard (32 pts, 9 asst) and TJ McConnell (23 pts, 6 asst) both showed up big time in Game 3, and whether Hali plays or not, they at least have something to draw from. We’ll see if they can provide such a boost one more time – it’s not likely they have back-to-back career postseason games, but crazier things have happened.

Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner each had 22 points on Sunday, which is nice on most nights, but not on the conference finals stage trailing 0-2 against a 64-win opponent. They’ll have to provide more on both ends.

PICKS:

Spread: Celtics (-7)

Over/Under: Over (222)