Jrue Holiday steals the ball – and win – from the Pacers as Celtics come back to take commanding 3-0 series lead in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals

John Havlicek, ML Carr, Gerald Henderson, Larry Bird and now Jrue Holiday.

The Celtics point guard joined the list of Boston legends, securing a crucial playoff victory with a key steal after pinning Indiana’s Andrew Nembhard with seconds left in Game 3 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday in Indianapolis.

Holiday would hit two free throws after being fouled by Nembhard, giving Boston a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.

The first-year Celtics star was listed as questionable earlier in the day due to illness, but was deemed available to play about 45 minutes before tipoff.

Indiana certainly had a chance to come away with a win in the absence of the team’s injured leading scorer, Tyrese Haliburton. The Pacers led 84-66 midway through the third quarter as the Celtics struggled defensively without their own injured star, center Kristaps Porzingis.

But Indiana was outscored 33-21 in the fourth quarter as Holiday shook off a lingering illness to lead Boston’s late surge.

“If he comes out here and puts everything on the line for us and comes up with a big play to win the game, we’ll have a great team,” Tatum said in his post-game TV interview.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was criticized after the loss for failing to call a timeout in the final 10 seconds of the game while his team was down by one point.

“The Celtics are back on defense,” Ringer’s Kevin O’Conner wrote on X. “Andrew Nembhard is essentially going [one on four] as Jrue Holiday chases him. Why not a timeout? Poorly coached run from Carlisle in these big moments.”

Afterwards, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla expressed his pride in seeing his team come back from an 18-point deficit in the second half.

“We have to know that at some point we’re going to lose in the play-offs,” he said.

“That’s how games will go,” he added. ‘You have to be able to win in different ways. We have to be able to endure certain things. I thought our guys came through really well.”

Andrew Nembhard #2 of the Pacers plays defense during the game against Jrue Holiday

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) controls the ball against Indiana Pacers guard TJ McConnell

Holiday isn’t the first Celtics star to get a clutch steal in the playoffs.

Celtics announcer Johnny Most famously shouted “Havlicek stole the ball” as the future Hall of Famer sealed Boston’s Game 7 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1965 Eastern Conference Finals.

The Celtics had two separate defensive heroes in the 1984 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.

First, in Game 2, it was Gerald Henderson who stole a late inbounds pass from James Worthy as Boston trailed 113-111 at the Garden. The Celtics would push the game to overtime, where they ultimately won 124-121.

Then in Los Angeles in Game 4, it was Celtics swingman (and former prison guard) ML Carr who stole Worthy’s inbounds pass to Michael Cooper before driving in for a dunk to seal that hard-earned victory.

Boston would win that series in seven games.

Perhaps Boston’s most miraculous steal occurred against the Detroit Pistons in Game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Semis, when Bird saved the Celtics from certain defeat by stealing Isiah Thomas’ inbound pass and quickly passing it to a cutting Dennis Johnson for the game-winning shot. layout.

Boston can clinch its second NBA Finals trip in three seasons with a Game 4 win Monday in Indianapolis, where Porzingis is reportedly expected to return from his right calf injury.

Jayson Tatum matched his playoff career high with 36 points and had 10 rebounds and eight assists. Jaylen Brown added 24 points and Al Horford had 23 points and seven 3-pointers as the Celtics won their sixth straight playoff game and remained undefeated on the road this postseason.

Holiday played despite being listed as doubtful and having an illness unrelated to COVID-19.

Nembhard led the Pacers with a career-high 30 points before Holiday stole the ball from him with 3.3 seconds left. TJ McConnell finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists, while Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam each had 22 points.

Indiana played without Haliburton, who was out with a left hamstring injury, and was certainly missing him as Boston closed the game on a 13-2 run. It is the first loss in seven home postseason games for the Pacers.