As the Celtics prepare to watch the 2025 NBA Finals from their couches, here are five Boston-centric thoughts on the matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers:

Last year’s Celtics postseason is primarily remembered as a dominant, 16-wins-in-19-games march to a championship. But it’s easy to forget just how close the 2024 Eastern Conference finals between Boston and Indiana were.

That was a four-game Celtics sweep, yes, but a highly competitive one. The Pacers led in the final minute of regulation in Games 1 and 3 and were tied with less than a minute to play in Game 4. Had Boston not made the succession of clutch plays that it did (Jaylen Brown’s 3-pointer to force overtime in Game 1; Jrue Holiday’s and-one layup and steal in Game 3; and Brown’s block that set up Derri

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