Kyrie Irving’s Boston Celtics sweep Pacers out of NBA playoffs

Kyrie Irving’s Boston Celtics swept their way past Indiana, while the Golden State and Toronto registered road victories over Orlando and the Los Angeles Clippers to take commanding leads in their first-round playoff series on Sunday.

Gordon Hayward scored a team-high 20 points as the Celtics defeated Indiana 110-106 on Sunday to complete a first-round NBA playoff sweep of the host Pacers.

The Celtics captured their first best-of-seven series sweep since 2011 and advanced to a second-round matchup with either the Milwaukee Bucks or Detroit Pistons.

“Any time you 4-0 a team, you feel great,” Hayward said. “We’re going to heal up a little bit and be ready for the next round.”

Hayward came off the Boston bench to lead seven double-figure scorers, hitting 7-of-9 shots from the floor and all three of his 3-point attempts.

Marcus Morris, another reserve star, scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Celtics, who won despite poor shooting from top stars and 16 turnovers.

Kyrie Irving went 4-of-13 from the floor, 0-of-4 from 3-point range, and finished with 14 points and seven assists while Al Horford was 4-of-19 from the floor, 1-of-6 on 3-pointers, with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

“It was a scrappy series, defensive series, physical series,” Hayward said. “Proud of our team for fighting. We fought through it. It was a great team win.”

The Celtics led 73-72 entering the fourth quarter but the Pacers had taken an 82-80 edge when Boston unleashed a critical 15-3 run to seize command.

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