So much for a playoff-leading average winning margin of 18 points per game.
When the game got tight in the end, Jaylen Brown and the East-leading Boston Celtics came through.
"Welcome to the NBA Playoffs, anything can happen. The game is not over until the final buzzer sounds," Brown said after draining a clutch corner triple to send the game to overtime in the Boston Celtics’ 133-128 Eastern Conference Finals series-opening win against the Indiana Pacers.
“Down three, we needed a big shot… a big play to extend the game. Jrue [Holiday] made a great pass, D White set a good screen and the rest was history. It’s not over till it’s over," Brown added.
"Jrue made a great pass, D White set a good screen, and the rest was history."
— NBA (@NBA) May 22, 2024
Jaylen Brown breaks down his clutch game-tying 3 that sent Game 1 to OT ??#NBAConferenceFinals presented by Google Pixel pic.twitter.com/lfDGRTz8ve
It was, and it came just in the time where the Celtics are on heels of another home loss this playoffs.
“We all were thinking we got an opportunity after that big shot. Everybody were thinking the game was lost but when that shot goes in, that gave us a little bit of life and we found a way to close it [out].’”
The nail-biting win improved Boston's postseason record to 9-2, the best among the four remaining teams, but Brown remained grounded on what the Celtics needed to improve after barely winning Game 1.
“I think it’s always great to come out with a win, but we got to tighten up in some areas. I think the majority of it was [in] transition, we knew they [Pacers] are going to be [playing] fast, it didn’t surprise us.”
“We got to be better. We have to match their intensity if we want to win the series.”
Brown tipped his hat off to the Pacers, who came out swinging in their second road game in the last three days after a historic Game 7 win over the Knicks in New York.
“The Pacers came out and played extremely well, playing with pace and force and made it tough on us. So we got to be the harder playing team, we got to sprint back. We need to adjust and we will be ready to go [for Game 2].”
Game 2 will stay in Boston on May 24, Friday. It will air at 8:00 a.m. LIVE on One Sports, NBA TV Philippines, and the Pilipinas Live app.
