Boston is back, baby!
While it did help that Tyrese Haliburton was still in sickbay, it's not like the Indiana Pacers went down without a fight. They were outstanding up until the stretch. The back-and-forth action led by Haliburton's subs Andrew Nembhard and TJ McConnell, as well as former champ Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner almost gave the Celtics the L.
With that said, Derrick White and Jayson Tatum drilled in the points that Jaylen Brown started. Brown finished with 29 points while Tatum had 26. Jrue Holiday and White combined for 33 points. Meanwhile, Nembhard had 24, Siakam had 19, McConnell with 15, Aaron Nesmith had 14, Obi Toppin had 12, and Turner had eight.
The Celtics have 17 championships, tied for first with the Los Angeles Lakers, but since the turn of the century, had won only one title - in 2008, when they were led by Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, and Coach Doc Rivers. Before their last title, Boston won their 16th title in 1986 - making the 1990s and the 2010s the only eras that the Cs failed to win a plum.