‘We are going after them,’: Down 3-0, Pacers vow to go all out to extend East finals

For most of the evening he’d played spectacular basketball, authoring a performance that goes down with his 31-point effort in a win over Golden State in December of 2022 among the very best of his career. He made 12 of 21 field goals and 4 of 7 3-pointers on a night when McConnell made the team’s only other 3-pointer and didn’t do that until late in the fourth quarter. Nembhard hit three big shots in the fourth quarter before missing an open but tough jumper with about 34 seconds to go. He had another chance to give the Pacers the lead with about five seconds left when he tried to muscle past six-time All-Defensive team pick Jrue Holiday but had the ball stolen away with a masterful swipe.

Nembhard described that play with as few words as he could possibly use.

“I was trying to get a shot up,” he said. “I lost the ball. Slipped. Turnover.”

The Pacers have less than 48 hours to move past the stinging defeat and to summon a performance that will at least force a Game 5. They will, however, have plenty of motivation to do so.

It’s possible they could have Haliburton back as Carlisle would not rule that out in pre-game. They could be playing in Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the final time this season, a place where they had won 11 straight games including all six of their playoff home games going into Saturday night. And even though most of these Pacers will probably be around for next season and their championship window only starting to crack open, there are bound to be at least a few personnel changes in the offseason, so they still don’t want Monday to be this group’s final game.

“We have to give everything we have,” Siakam said. “Obviously, to this point, we’ve had an incredible season and nobody wants to see it end. We’re going to fight to the end. For us it’s just, ‘Let’s get one game.’ We can’t look ahead. Whatever is in front of us doesn’t matter. We have to focus on the next game and give everything we have to win that game.”

Whether the Pacers are equipped to make history or not, they are generally well equipped to deal with disappointment by going out and winning the next game. They were 23-12 after losses in the regular season. This series marks the first time they’ve lost three games in a row since Jan. 30-Feb. 2. They’ve only lost four in a row once from Dec. 13-18. They won two elimination games against the Knicks to win that series in seven games.

Indiana Pacers’ T.J. McConnell says the Celtics ‘just didn’t go away’

Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell talks Boston Celtics Game 3 loss and point guard Andrew Nembhard.

Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar

“This group, the way they’re battling, we’re going to come at these guys harder on Monday,” Carlisle said. “And our fans need to come out and they need to be louder than they’ve ever been. And we’ve gotta extend this series and we gotta get back on the plane for Game 5. That’s what we gotta do.”

And even if this series does end in Game 5 in Boston, it would still mean something for the Pacers to take it there. The goal for this season was to get to the playoffs for the purpose of being tested and pushed and to stay in as long as possible to get the sense of what they’ll need to become a great postseason team. There’s still something to be gained by playing one more game, winning one more time with their backs against the wall and then getting one more chance to do it again on the road.

“Obviously this one stings, but there’s no guy in this locker room who’s packed it in,” McConnell said. “We’re gonna try to get one here and extend this series and go back to Boston and try to make things difficult. There’s no guy in this locker room who’s gonna quit. I’ll tell you that much.”