The Boston Celtics made quick work of the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the 2018-19 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs.
The 4th seeded Celtics didn’t have a single hiccup in their best-of-seven series, sweeping the series 4 games to 0 with a 110-106 win in Indianapolis on Sunday.
Try as they might, the Pacers were unable to overcome the Celtics’ superior talent. Sunday was the closest that they came to defeating Boston, but they came up short.
Surprisingly, Boston’s first-round sweep of Indiana is only their second playoff sweep since the 1986-87 season.
Boston got a balanced team effort from their starting five and their bench on Sunday to propel them to the Eastern Conference semi-finals. Seven Celtics players finished with double-digit points, including three bench players.
The Celtics’ best player, in fact, came off of the bench on Sunday.
It might’ve been hard to imagine when Gordon Hayward joined Boston, but he’s been utilized as a sixth man for Boston at times this year.
Despite this unlikely situation, Hayward shined on Sunday. He scored 20 points to lead the team on ultra-efficient 7-9 shooting performance.
Boston will face the winner of the Milwaukee Bucks-Detroit Pistons series in the next round.
