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Tim BontempsESPN
Lake Buena Vista, Fla. – This season, the Boston Celtics have reached the Eastern Conference final for the third time in four years. Now, although there was one obvious difference about this trip – it came within the bubble of the NBA at Walt Disney World Resort – they themselves face exactly the same result.
After beating the Celtics 125-113 in Game 6 by the Miami Heat on Sunday, the Celtics saw their season – and their time of the bubble – come to an end. As Boston secedes, it will be a difficult time to think back to the series in which it collapsed in the second of its four losses, including a 26-6 fourth-quarter run in Game 6, which officially sealed the Celtics’ fortunes.
“They were just more aggressive,” said Celtics guard Marcus Smart. “They were getting what they wanted … Unfortunately, we didn’t deal with it. We didn’t react the way we should.”
“That’s part of it. We’ve played a really good team. That crowd will have to tip your hat. Gota go back to the drawing board and see what needs to be improved and come back next year.”
Looking back on the series, Boston will be looking for a way to handle late game conditions. The hits – as they did against the Milwaukee Bucks in the previous round – feel better as the games progress. The Celtics, meanwhile, longed.
That was especially true in Game 6, as Boston took a 96-90 lead with 9-15 remaining, just for Balm Adebayo – who finished with 32 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists – to turn in human batting ram, bringing the ball Attack the basket over and over again. Boston had no answer.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens said: “We have the lead, Adebayo – and after submitting it all – but Adebayo decided he would just run the ball, put us in a real bond with the shooters around him.” “And their physicality is something I’m not sure we talked about enough. But it’s just strong, they’re physical, it’s tough, and in particular, it’s their dominance in the fourth quarter.
“Even in plays where he didn’t make it, his presence was very effective. And it puts us in a real bond with his ability to defend. … He’s super physical, very tough, very savvy. And I think he’s East is the best team and they deserve to represent East in the way they have played. “
There has been little argument on that point, although the bubbles have hit 12-3 in the playoffs and dispatched the best teams in the league, the Bucks and the Celtics, in the regular season. But that won’t change the fact that, for the first time in these three trips to the playoffs ’penalty rounds, it was the series that gave Boston the backing to win – and it didn’t.
As the Boston season draws to a close, it will focus on the Celtics player’s mind, especially on rising star Jason Tatum, who talked about post-game expectations.
“It’s not easy,” he said when asked what he learned from the experience. “It’s tough. If you want those expectations, if you want to be the person who is capable of doing those things, you have to go through some tough things, some ups and downs, some stuff from which I can learn. .
“I think I can learn a lot from this season, from this series. I can grow from that.”
There was a lot about this season that was a success for the Celtics. After the futile chaos that plagued them last season, locker room fights have spread to postgame media sessions on a regular basis, with almost none of them on the team this season.
In fact, the same moment as the argument came in the bubble and this series – and after Bost blew up the first two games with a second-half fall, the Celtics couldn’t get out, digging a hole.
“I really appreciate the way they played basketball all year,” Stevens said. “I really appreciated the way they competed. I really appreciate the way they blocked them in a way that didn’t matter. I really appreciate the way they were inspired by their voices when they were here – and that Previously, all the different NBA employees who were not here, including the Celtics employees and all the others who put everything they had into it, benefited, and appreciated and stayed with the way they played and enjoyed themselves.
“We had a normal dustup. It’s great for a calendar year with the group. It’s pretty cool if you think about it.”
Meanwhile, a group that entered the season with seemingly less talent than the Celtics assembled a year ago, which was more consistent on the court. Tatum blossomed into an All-Star. Galen Brown, who was tremendous in Game 6, finished with a 26-point 10-for-17 shooting in 40 minutes and avoided what seemed to be a serious knee injury in the fourth quarter after falling awkwardly on the fast-break. dunk.
Kemba Walker was all that Boston had hoped he would be in Carrie Irving’s place, Smart took another step forward, Daniel Thiss was a revelation, and Gordon Hayward was close to the player he was two years ago before his devastating left foot and ankle injuries.
Eventually, however, Boston fell short of where it hoped to go. It took games 4 and 5 in the series to tackle Miami’s zone defense for the Celtics. Boston had no answer for Adebayo, who, according to Stevens, overwhelmed him with his physique. Tatum had an unbeaten scoreless first half of Game 4, and Hayward was a nonfactor in Game 6.
In both the Eastern Conference semifinal match against the Toronto Raptors and in this series the Celtics made frequent flips in concentration which caused them to slowly start playing and break the tension.
The Celtics were only able to avoid those losses against the Raptors. They were unable to do so against the heat.
It was he who made the fourth quarter of Game 6 very appropriate, as it proved to be the same formula that made Boston’s time and again the last few weeks disastrous. It was a fatal defect that the Celtics were unable to overcome.
When Smart was asked, “The game has to start by lagging behind in the beginning, starting at a slower pace, slowing down the series,” when Smart was asked how he would most regret the series. “But apart from this, it is. I’m proud of my boys. I’m proud of the way we fought. I’m proud of the way I don’t count, we’re not asleep.
“We had plenty of opportunities where it could happen for us as soon as possible, but we stayed with it, playing a great Miami team – great coaching staff, great players – and I give credit to those people. But I’m proud. My guys and Like I said, just started at a slower pace, started a slower series. “
The Celtics go into se fasen with a group, which should return for the most part. Headward has a hefty player option for next season that he probably has. Will choose. All other key members of Boston’s rotation will be under contract at least next season.
The biggest move against Boston is whether Tatum will be given a maximum contract extension, which is expected to be done by the team. “It’s not like he was thinking about it only after his season was over,” Tatum said.
“It’s a difficult question to answer,” he said. “I haven’t even thought about it yet. I just focused this season.
“The next office fee and my agent will talk about it. But I don’t think about it right now. We just lost a series. I’m just thinking about the boys in the locker room and in the games. That’s what I’m thinking. So full.” Is, is going to happen, if it happens, [is] Not really my concern. I don’t even think about it.
“The great season I had, the great players, I’ll think about the excellent work by everyone. It was a Harluwa year, and I enjoyed it. I admire everyone. It was fun. I don’t really think about other stuff. Right now. “
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