Pacers aim to defy odds

The Indiana Pacers are determined to defy the odds and crawl back from a 0-3 series deficit when they face the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of their National Basketball Association (NBA) Eastern Conference finals series on Monday (Tuesday morning in Manila).

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle admitted that he is aware that no NBA has ever rallied from a 0-3 deficit in a best-of-seven series but they will do everything to win four consecutive games to make a return to the NBA Finals for the first time in 24 years.

He said if they win in Game 4 and the series goes back to Indiana for Game 5, anything can happen.

“We’re going to come at these guys harder on Monday,” Carlisle said after losing their first home playoff game this season.

“Our fans need to come out and they need to get louder than they’ve ever been, and we’ve got to extend this series. We’ve got to get back on that plane for Game 5.”

But Carlisle’s plan appears to be a mission impossible.

The Pacers have blown winnable chances in the final minute of Games 1 and 3 and hung close in Game 2 — until a left hamstring injury sent star playmaker Tyrese Haliburton to the locker room in the third quarter.

He didn’t return against his wishes.

Carlisle did not say whether Haliburton might play in Game 4. But still, the Pacers season comes down to this — win or go home.

“There’s no guy in this locker room that’s packed it in,” T.J. McConnell said.

“We’re going to have to get one here and extend the series, then go back to Boston and try to make things difficult. But there’s no guy in this locker room that’s going to quit.”

The Celtics know how this works, too.

‘There’s no guy in this locker room that’s packed it in.’

They’ve appeared in six of the last eight Eastern Conference finals and they’re now just a win away from advancing to the NBA Finals for the second time during that span. Five wins would give the franchise its first championship since 2008.

But a year ago, Boston found itself facing an even trickier proposition after losing the first two games at home before getting blown out at Miami. The Celtics responded to the 3-0 deficit by winning the next three before enduring a rare Game 7 loss at home.

“It’s huge,” Jayson Tatum said after Boston’s sixth straight playoff win.

“We’re in a great position right now, one win away from the finals. But we know we can’t relax for one second. A year ago, we were down 0-3 and figured out a way to force it to seven, so we’re not looking past Monday.”