The Boston Celtics have finally defeated the Indiana Pacers to advance to the NBA Finals. Having had their work cut out for them throughout the four games, Jaylen Brown could not help but be impressed by the Pacers’ efforts on the hardwood floor, even announcing that some players were ‘turning into Michael Jordan’, during a previous interview. But who was he referring to specifically?
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Jaylen Brown recently revealed the answer, revealing it during the press conference after Game 4.
“Jaylen Brown: When I was talking about guys being Michael Jordan, TJ McConnell was who I was talking about.” [per Jared Weiss]
Jaylen Brown: When I was talking about guys being Michael Jordan, TJ McConnell was who I was talking about.
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) May 28, 2024
This comes after Brown delivered a rather peculiar statement about the Indiana Pacers after Game 3, despite the Celtics’ 114-111 victory. He said,
“They were shooting the ball well. Some of those guys turned into f**king Michael Jordan or whatever… We just couldn’t figure it out.”
TJ McConnell played a huge part in the Indiana Pacers’ offense throughout the series. However, his best scoring performance came in Game 3; the one Jaylen Brown referred to. In this game, TJ went off for 23 points off the bench, along with 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1 steal for the game. Alas, for the Pacers, they just could not close out that game.
This series against the Boston Celtics wasn’t the smoothest matchup for the Indiana Pacers. With Tyrese Haliburton going down with an injury, players like Myles Turner, Pascal Siakam, and others had to take on the offensive load. Eventually, this became a bit too much for the team to handle.
Despite the Pacers getting swept in the series, all four games were close calls, with the outcome being far from predictable until the final few seconds. This loss will absolutely be a tough pill to swallow for Indiana. But given how well the players performed, the future of this young Pacers squad shines bright going forward.
