The Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers have Game 1 of their 2024 Eastern Conference finals series in the books, and are set to face off once again at TD Garden this (May 23) Thursday night. In the single game of the series played so far, both teams learned that their margin for error is far smaller than it has been in previous rounds.
But it should also give the Pacers pause that the Celtics still managed to win in a game with plenty of mistakes played at a favorable pace (no pun intended) to Indiana. The Celtics, conversely, narrowly avoided disaster, and will need to tighten up and experiment with new looks, set plays, and lineups to avoid dropping a game at home.
We’ll take Boston in Game 2, but it may be as close as Game 1.