Entering the fourth quarter, the Indiana Pacers held a 79-68 lead over the Boston Celtics. They seemed to have broken the hex which cursed the third quarter, scoring 29 (the same amount of points they scored in the second half of game one) and building an 11 point cushion in the third frame. Indy seemed primed to return home to Banker’s Life with the series knotted up, still with some hope that they could upset the mighty Celtics.
A 16-0 Boston run in the fourth quarter put that hope on life support. Indiana now trailed the Celtics 86-82.