NBA Playoffs 2019: What to watch for in Celtics-Pacers, Warriors-Clippers, Raptors-Magic and Blazers-Thunder

Kyle Irving

NBA Playoffs 2019: What to watch for in Celtics-Pacers, Warriors-Clippers, Raptors-Magic and Blazers-Thunder image

We have four Game 4's on tap for the NBA Playoffs on Monday.

The day gets started with the Boston Celtics going for the series sweep on the Indiana Pacers. The Golden State Warriors and LA Clippers are next on deck as the Clippers look to try and even the series after suffering a loss in their first home playoff game.

The final two games of the day end with the Orlando Magic trying to avenge their home playoff loss to the Toronto Raptors to even the series while the Oklahoma City Thunder look to defend home court to send the series back to Portland tied at 2-2.

Here's what you should watch for in each game!

Will the Pacers break 100 points?

The Celtics are one game away from advancing to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals and that's thanks in part to their lockdown defence in this series.

The Pacers have struggled mightily on the offensive end and have yet to break the 100-point mark in this series.

Indiana has prided themselves all season on having one of the best defences in the league, but they're being outplayed on their favourite side of the ball. Add to it that the Celtics have been good offensively in two of the three games, and that explains the lopsided 3-0 series score.

The Pacers are averaging just 87.0 points over the first three games. Bojan Bogdanovic is still leading the team in scoring, like he has since Victor Oladipo went down, but his efficiency is way down – the offensive-minded forward is posting 16.7 points per game on 38.8% shooting from the field and 31.6% shooting from beyond the arc.

Tyreke Evans has added 13.3 points per game but all-in-all, the Pacers need more from both of those guys as well as Wesley Matthews (8.3 ppg), Darren Collison (9.7 ppg) and Domantas Sabonis (6.7 ppg) if they're going to avoid being swept.

Needing more from Danilo Gallinari

The Clippers shocked the NBA world when they were able to steal Game 2 at Oracle Arena but Kevin Durant's 38 points in Game 3 assured they remained ahead in the series.

LA is now in need of a Game 4 win if they want to avoid going back to Oracle Arena with their backs against the wall.

If they're going to get the job done on their home court they're going to need more from forward Danilo Gallinari, who has been one of their go-to scorers all season long.

Gallinari was great during the regular season posting a career-high 19.8 points per game, shooting 46.3% from the field, 43.3% from 3-point land and 90.4% from the free throw stripe.

This playoffs has been quite the contrary – the veteran scorer is still putting up 16.0 points per contest but his shooting splits have taken a hit. He's shooting 31.1% from the field and 30.0% from three, leaving the Clippers desperate to find scoring elsewhere.

Lou Williams (25.7 ppg) and Montrezl Harrell (22.0 ppg) have continued to step up in that area but after that duo and Gallinari, it's been JaMychael Green (12.7 ppg) who's next in line, which isn't ideal for a team trying to keep up with the likes of Durant, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

Gallinari is going to have to heat up if the Clippers are going to send this series back to Oakland all tied up. 

The Nikola Vucevic matchup

After combining for 17 points in Games 1 and 2, Vucevic looked more like himself in Game 3 with 22 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.

A lot of that damage, however, came in the minutes Marc Gasol was on the bench.

Up until Gasol picked up his fourth foul, which occurred with 9:31 to play in the third quarter, Vucevic had six points (2-5 FG) and four turnovers in Game 3. He then scored 16 points (5-8 FG) and committed only two turnovers the rest of the way, with Serge Ibaka playing most of the minutes at centre for the Raptors.

Ibaka did a decent job of defending Vucevic during the regular season, but he hasn't been nearly as effective as Gasol through three games of this series. According to NBA.com, Vucevic has scored almost as many points (18) in 25 minutes against Ibaka than he has in 76 minutes against Gasol.

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Not all of those points have come directly against Ibaka — the All-Star got going in Game 3 with some post-ups against mismatches and a pair of pick-and-pop 3s — but Vucevic has clearly been a different player in this series when matched up with Gasol, as we broke down after Game 2.

Lillard vs. Westbrook and Schroder

Damian Lillard versus Russell Westbrook has been one of the best storylines of the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

That saga continued in Game 3 when Westbrook and Lillard were going at it all game long and Dennis Schroder even joined in on some trash talk.

Westbrook had locked down Lillard in the first half of Game 3 but after taunting him with his signature 'rock the baby' celebration early in the third quarter, Lillard decided that was enough.

He rattled off 25 points in the quarter to bring his team back into the game, but Westbrook went off for 14 points in the final frame to secure the win. His final 3-pointer of the game came on a possession where Lillard was right in his face and Westbrook let Lillard hear it after the ball went through, talking to him the entire way down the court.

When Lillard had missed a free throw in the fourth quarter, Schroder did Lillard's signature 'Lillard Time' celebration right in the Blazers' All-Star guard's face, and Dame didn't take that too kindly.

MORE: Lillard responds to Schroder's trash talk following Game 3 loss

He was noticeably hot after the game, which is unlike the normally level-headed star point guard.

Get your popcorn ready for Game 4, because there's a lot on the line for the Thunder to send this series back to Portland tied at 2-2. Should they drop Game 4 on their home floor, Lillard and the Blazers would just have to take care of business on their home court in Game 5 to knock OKC out of the playoffs.

Kyle Irving

Kyle Irving Photo

You read that wrong – not Kyrie Irving. From Boston, graduated from the University of New Hampshire. Sixth season as a content producer for NBA.com's Global editions. Covering the NBA Draft has become his annual "dream come true" moment on the job. Irving has a soft spot for pass-first point guards, with Rajon Rondo and Steve Nash being two of his favorite players of all time.