2023-12-05 15:32:57
Pacers eliminates Celtics and advances with Pelicans to semi-finals
Excitement reached its peak on Monday, in the NBA, as Tyrese Haliburton, by scoring the first triple-double in his career, led his team, the Indiana Pacers, to defeat the Boston Celtics 122-112, and qualify for the semi-finals of the modern competition, the “In-Season Cup.”
The New Orleans Pelicans also booked their place in the round of four scheduled for Thursday in Las Vegas, following overcoming a slow start to defeat the host Sacramento Kings 127-117.
The League introduced this new competition this season, as the 30 clubs were divided into 6 groups of 5 teams, and each team played a total of 4 matches last month, and the six leaders qualified alongside the best runner-up in each region.
All matches of this new cup were counted within the NBA League and regular season standings, with the exception of the final match on December 9 in Las Vegas.
Each player in the team that wins the title receives a financial prize of $500,000.
The Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics topped their groups in the Eastern Conference, while the New York Knicks were in second best place, and the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings led the Western Conference groups, in which the Phoenix Suns were in second best place.
Haliburton achieved a triple-double to lead the Pacers to victory (Archyde.com)
The atmosphere is crazy
In Indianapolis, Haliburton achieved a triple-double (10 or more in 3 statistical categories), scoring 26 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists, while his team benefited from scoring 9 unanswered points two minutes before the end of time to impose its dominance in a close confrontation.
The Pacers, who are ranked sixth in the Eastern Conference standings during the regular season, eliminated their counterpart, the Celtics, and set up a date with the winner between the Milwaukee Bucks and the New York Knicks in the semi-finals.
The Bucks host the Knicks in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Halibthorn indicated that the Pacers are ready to face either team: “We are a young and hungry group and we want to win every night.”
He added: “So we are excited to be there, but we are not satisfied with our presence at this stage. “We want to win.”
Buddy Hield added 21 points for the Pacers, with seven players scoring more than 10 points, in front of a crowd of 16,000.
“The atmosphere is crazy,” Haliburton said of the great excitement of these playoff matches. “I like it,” he continued.
On the other hand, Jason Tatum scored 32 points with 12 rebounds for the Celtics, and Jaylen Brown added 30 points with 9 rebounds.
Boston outscored its opponent 32-14 under the basket, and also 34-19 in rebounds during the first half, which allowed it to lead 55-48 at halftime.
But the Pacers turned the tables in the second half, and following Haliburton settled for 7 points in the first half, it scored 8 points in the first 14 minutes of the third quarter.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzola said that 18 loose balls, 6 of which were in the third quarter when the Pacers raised their lead to 11, eliminated the Celtics.
“When you commit loose balls, you allow them to counter-attack,” he said.
Despite this, a draw prevailed between the two teams, which exchanged the lead 16 times in the match, 105 – 105, one minute and 33 seconds before the end of time, before Indiana delivered the final and decisive blow.
Haliburton grabbed a foul while scoring a deadly three-pointer to get an additional free throw, giving the Pacers a significant lead.
Hield added another hat-trick and Aaron Neithsmith made a smashing basket, so the Pacers might settle the score.
Ingram led the Pelicans to qualify for the semi-finals (AFP)
Ingram leads Pelicans
In Sacramento, the Kings led by 15 points in the first quarter, but the Pelicans made a fiery comeback and took the lead 69-61 before the halftime break, and did not lose their lead following that.
Despite the quiet night for Pelicans star Zion Williamson, who scored 10 points, Brandon Ingram had a great game with 30 points, and Herbert Jones added 23 points.
On the other hand, De’Aaron Fox topped the Kings’ scoring list with 30 points, and Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis scored a triple-double with 26 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for Sacramento, which suffered its first loss in the competition following 4 victories in the group stage.
The Pelicans will play with the winner between the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns, who face off on Tuesday.
The final match of the modern competition will be held on Saturday in Vegas.
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