They said “don’t let us have one”.
You might laugh.
I said “speak when you get two”.
So what do you think of the Celtics now?
Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals was not a game. was beating. Boston led by 15 after the first quarter. It was 17 in the first half and 18 at the end of the third, when Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra asked Jimmy Butler to call it a night. The Celts made triples, 41% of them. The Heat committed a number of turnovers, 16 of them, which Boston converted to 27 points.
“There are no excuses,” Spoelstra said. “The Celtics beat us tonight.”
“Our backs are against the wall,” Boston coach Joe Mazzola said. “And we stick together.”
No team in NBA history has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series. But are we beginning to believe the Celtics can do it? Miami battled Boston in the first three games of this series. Jimmy Butler was the best player on earth. But Jason Tatum found a home run in Game 4. Grant Williams found a home run. And the Celtics defense found its identity.
“I think as soon as we got ourselves together, we all looked each other in the eye and said ‘Hey, we’re not going out like this,'” said Jaylen Brown.
What is it with Are these Celtics? For 57 matches this season, they have looked like one of the favorites for the title. Tatum was an MVP candidate. Brown, All-NBA. The team has the best winning percentage since the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce years.
But in the playoffs they were prone to clunkers. The fifth game is against Atlanta. The fifth game is against Philadelphia. In what looked like a must-win Game 3 against Miami, the Celtics didn’t show up.
“I wish if [knew] Tatum said. “For some strange reason, even in the past year, we always seemed to make it tougher on ourselves. But what I do know is that you can see the true character of a person, the team when things aren’t going well, our ability to work together, and figure things out when it doesn’t seem like it. Well for us necessarily, it’s unlike any other team I’ve been on this year and last year, just the core group of guys who’ve been able to respond.”
defense act. Miami shot 51.9% from the field in their first three games. They made contact at 47.4% in the last two. Heat shot 47.8% from three in the three wins. at a loss of 30.9%. On Thursday, Miami didn’t collect a second chance point until the middle of the fourth quarter.
“Their activity level has gone up in the last couple of games,” Spoelstra said.
at least.
Marcus Smart was everywhere. Derek White was brilliant. White scored 24 points. He was 6 of 8 of three. Butler finished with 14 points. For most of the game, white was wrapped all over. Tatum collected 21 points. Most impressive were his 11 assists. In their first three games, Boston shot 29% of their three games. In the latter two it jumped to 40%. Over the last two games, the Celtics have outscored the Heat 102-51 from outside the arc.
Spacing, Mazola said. “When we play fast but organized, that’s when we’re at our best.”
What about Mzola? Most of Boston has him cleaning up his desk now. There have been calls for Mike Budenholzer. Nick Nurse. Until reuniting with Doc Rivers. But Mazzola was ready to play in the second half of the third game. He’s kept them active since the beginning of Game 4. “One of our assistants put it into great perspective,” Mazzola said. “the chapter [is] Like nine long months, and we just had a bad week.” As TNT cut to the Boston rally, Mazzola could be heard urging the Celtics to be more physical. Every player made eye contact with him and nodded.
Mazzola has now won four games when facing elimination, the third rookie coach to do so. If he deserved the heavy criticism he received after the first three games, Mazzola earned the praise after the last two.
Before the match, Mazzola was asked how he handles pressure. He revealed that he had recently met three girls, all under the age of 21, who were diagnosed with cancer. They talked about life. about death. About enjoying life, no matter what. “I thought I was helping them by talking to them, and they were helping me,” Mazzola said.
Miami is not over. She still has two games to win one. “We will always stay positive, knowing that we can and we will win this series,” said Jimmy Butler. But Boston has momentum. He has confidence. On paper it is the better team. Over the last two games, I’ve played like her.
“They let us have two,” Brown said. “Don’t let us get another one.”
It was funny once.
now? Not much.