Sports

Haliburton out for Pacers; Holiday and Kornet both available for Celtics in Game 4

May 27, 2024 / 7:19 PM EDT / CBS Boston

Will Celtics close out Pacers on Monday night and advance to the NBA Finals?

BOSTON -- The Celtics will be close to full strength as they look to sweep the Indiana Pacers out of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night. The Pacers, on the other hand, will be without star point guard Tyrese Haliburton for a second straight game as they look to stave off elimination.

Haliburton was ruled out a few hours before Game 4's 8 p.m. tip-off at Gainbridge Field House in Indiana, head coach Rick Carlisle announced in his pre-game chat with reporters. The All-Star suffered a hamstring injury in Game 2 in Boston and missed Saturday night's Game 3 in Indiana.

Andrew Nembhard got the start in place of Haliburton in Game 3 and scored 32 points for the Pacers, but it wasn't enough as the Celtics pulled off an incredible comeback in the second half and won, 114-111, after trailing by 18 points in the third quarter.

Jrue Holiday had his fingerprints all over that Game 3 victory, despite the Celtics point guard being questionable for most of Saturday with an illness. Holiday was questionable again for Monday's Game 4, but was upgraded to available a few hours ahead of the game.

Boston backup center Luke Kornet is also available Monday night after he missed Game 3 with a sprained wrist. That will give the Celtics a little more size off the bench and a true center behind starter Al Horford.

Horford has been starting in place of Kristaps Porzingis, who was ruled out for Game 4 on Sunday as he continues to work his way back from a calf sprain. There was some rumblings last week that the big man could return for Game 4, but he'll instead miss his 10th straight game for Boston.

Porzingis was at the team's morning shootaround in Indiana, but was wearing sliders and socks as he put up shots on the floor. With the Celtics holding a commanding 3-0 series lead over Indiana, there is no real reason for the team to rush Porzingis back.

If the Celtics can close out the Pacers on Monday night, they wouldn't play again until Game 1 of the NBA Finals on June 6.

Matt Geagan

Matthew Geagan is a sports producer for CBS Boston. He has been part of the WBZ sports team for nearly 20 years. He moved over to the web in 2012 and has covered all the highs (and a few lows) in Boston sports.