Pacers Buddy Hield: 'I don't think the league really wants Indiana in the final four'

INDIANAPOLIS -- Pacers veteran sharpshooter Buddy Hield is never one to hold his tongue, and he's generally honest even when it isn't in his best interest. So when he was asked Monday night after the Pacers 122-112 upset of the Celtics in the quarterfinals of the NBA's first In-Season Tournament if he thought Indiana proved a lot of people wrong by reaching Thursday's semifinals in Las Vegas he not only agreed but took that a step further.

"Of course," Hield said. "In the whole scheme of things, I don't think the league really wants Indiana in the final four. Let's keep it real. Boston Celtics sounds a lot better."

Hield was perhaps half-joking and definitely played the lines up for laughs, but he has an obvious case. The Celtics are one of the NBA's two most storied franchises, the other being the Lakers, with the two organizations each holding a record 17 NBA titles. And this year's Celtics are still the betting-line favorite to win the championship with a 15-5 mark that is the best in the Eastern Conference and just a half-game behind Minnesota for the best record overall. With the In-Season Tournament knockout rounds not accounted for, the Celtics were scheduled to be nationally televised on ABC, ESPN and TNT 24 times out of 80 scheduled games. The Pacers, who have never won an NBA title and have scarcely drawn national attention even in their best times, were scheduled to be on national TV just once this season -- on TNT against the Celtics in Boston on Jan. 30. Monday's quarterfinal gives them a nationally televised home game they wouldn't have had otherwise and the semifinal will put them on national TV more in the In-Season Tournament than they'll be on the rest of the year.

That said, it could be argued that the NBA wouldn't have been upset about either outcome of Monday night's game, because the league would have either had the Celtics in Las Vegas or an opportunity to showcase an underexposed bright young talent in Hield's close friend, Tyrese Haliburton, who posted his first career triple-double Monday night and took control of the game with a four-point play in the game's final two minutes.

Either way, Hield wasn't trying to go too deep with it. He's just happy to be playing on because, as one reporter asked, 'Who cares, right?"

"Who gives a (expletive)?" Hield said. "We in. But you know, it shows our hard play and it shows that Rick (Carlisle) is getting ready for these games. Rick and the coaching staff, they prepared us well for these games, from Philly to Cleveland to Atlanta and Detroit, they took those games very seriously, they prepared us well and they were able to execute it."

Hield helped put the Celtics away with 21 points on 7 of 11 shooting including 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Haliburton's four-point play with 1:33 to go -- a top-of-the-key 3-pointer that drew a foul from Boston's Jaylen Brown -- was the most important shot of the night, but Hield hit a massive one to follow. Haliburton hit him with a pass at the top of the key on a baseline out-of-bounds play and Hield drilled a 3-pointer with 55 seconds to go that put the Pacers up 112-105.

If Haliburton's shot had the Celtics staggering, Hield's was the one that put them on the floor.

"It was fun, man," Hield said. "Those are shots as a kid that you dream of, just taking and making and hearing the whole crowd just going crazy. The workers can tell you I'm always in the gym every day whether it's a good game or a bad game. I'm always in the gym working. Every time I'm working I'm thinking of making a shot like that."

Hield tacked on another 3 at the buzzer that seemed unnecessary after a steal and that gave the Pacers a 10-point win. There was reason to wonder if Hield did it to run up the score a little after the Celtics beat the Pacers 155-104 on Nov. 1. Hield said it was just to appease the fans around him.

"The crowd was like, 'Shoot it, shoot it, shoot it!'" Hield said. "I was like, ‘Yo, I'm gonna listen to the crowd.’”

Hield seemed to be explaining his reasoning to several of the Celtics players afterward. Boston coach Joe Mazzula told reporters it didn't bother him.

"I don't care," Mazzula said. "I couldn't care less."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers vs. Celtics: Buddy Hield on last-second 3, Indiana in IST semis