One very Encouraging sign for Boston Celtics heading into Game 3

During game two of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, the Boston Celtics were finally able to use their feature lineup down the stretch. The success those five had were exactly what the team expected two years ago.

When the Boston Celtics traded for Kyrie Irving in August of 2017, the starting lineup in the playoffs was already decided in the minds of most fans — Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum and Al Horford. This lineup was considered a favorite to win the east and contend with the Golden State Warriors.

Those dreams were quickly diminished when Gordon Hayward went down for the 2017-18 season with the traumatic leg injury on opening night. Since then, the Celtics have been doing everything they can to get the team back to where they originally wanted to be. For the first time, we saw the lineup everyone wanted to see close out a big game, and it was a beautiful sight. For those that missed it, here is the final minute of the game.

To open, the block by Horford was fantastic, and a big reason why he is so valuable. By most NBA standards, a guard taking on a big-man is a mismatch. Bojan Bogdonavic should have blown by Horford for the easy two. Instead, Horford comes up with a fantastic block, showing his quickness.

Getting the ball into transition was a thing of beauty. You could almost hear the Garden holding their breath as Brown went up for a contested lay-up. Instead, the occasionally turnover-prone Brown makes a fantastic pass to Jayson Tatum for three. The threat of Brown in transition caused the Pacers to all come into the paint, leaving Tatum lightly-contested for three, where the second-year forward thrives in big-time moments.

Now, some of the blame, of course, has to go to Wesley Matthews who almost single-handedly blew the game. Missing a potential go-ahead contested 3-pointer and then throwing the ball away the next possession doesn’t exactly give you a good shot to win. However, Boston was able to capitalize on every mistake.

Usually, it’s Marcus Smart in one of the guard positions in the final minutes of the game. Because of his injury, someone else had to fill that role. That person was the same man who the role was originally intended for — Gordon Hayward.

What a great moment it was for Celtics fans seeing Hayward finally playing meaningful minutes in the playoffs. Even better — he delivered. Hitting the lay-up from a great pass from Tatum, and two free throws to seal the game, for the first time Celtics fans were able to say Hayward made an impact in the playoffs.

We talked about the impact of four Celtics on the floor in the final minute, but the one we’re forgetting to include is Kyrie Irving. One of the most clutch players in sports did not have to do much as his teammates stepped up and took down the Pacers as a unit.

The Celtics ended the game on a 10-0 run. For the first time as a team, finished out the game with the five who were always intended to finish it out. If the Celtics continue to look this good with their intended starting five, there may not be a team in the east that can stop them.