Literally Nobody Cares About Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals

They should flex the Boston Celtics vs. Indiana Pacers Game 4 matchup to 1 p.m. Eastern Time exclusively on Cartoon Network.

Now that the Celtics have taken a 3-0 lead, this series has become an official snooze fest.

The Celtics have had an absolute cakewalk to the NBA Finals. They haven’t even been tested. It’s been kind of sad.

The eighth-seeded Miami Heat didn’t even have Jimmy Butler in Round 1. The wounded Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t have Donovan Mitchell or Jarrett Allen in the conference semifinals. And now, the Celtics are one win away from beating the Tyrese Haliburton-less Pacers and heading to the NBA Finals.

And they’re winning these games without Kristaps Porzingis, who was such a nice fit throughout the regular season and seemed to be the missing piece to their championship puzzle. 

This isn’t a knock on the Celtics, by the way. You can only play who is in front of you. And while they haven’t been perfect, they’ve been the varsity team beating up on J.V. 

So here’s the thing. Nobody cares about this Game 4.

No disrespect to the Pacers, either. They have had a really impressive and surprising season. But the Celtics need a real test for the first time this postseason.

The Pacers just blew Game 3 on their home floor. They blew an 18 point lead. This embarrassment comes less than a week after they choked away Game 1 with the worst turnover imaginable in Boston. 

Rick Carlisle’s Pacers just cannot get out of their own way. They wasted a masterclass performance from Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell, who both stepped up big time without Haliburton. It’ll be damn near impossible to replicate those efforts, and this team has to be just deflated after two brutal losses in this series.

Both Western Conference teams remaining, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks, have been through way more adversity than Boston has. It’ll be interesting to see if the Celtics can get Porzingis back, and if his status will even matter against either team out West. 

The Mavericks currently have a commanding 2-0 lead as the series flips to their home floor, but the Wolves have made both games worth watching, hanging around in both meetings. 

Not to mention, think of the main storyline of the 2024 NBA Finals: Kyrie Irving vs. Boston.

The Pacers (and technically Minnesota) are standing in the way of what will be some darn good June basketball.