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BOSTON – With each passing game, it seems like the Boston Celtics are developing more and more championship DNA.
His two most recent wins over the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Semifinals are compelling proof of the trend.
Each victory was championship-caliber. They required mental perseverance, physical prowess, and outstanding execution.
The contenders can meet those needs. Suitors are not.
The Raptors, who now sit at a 0-2 hole in the series, know all about this. Just over a year ago, they clinched an unexpected title themselves behind a game similar to what Boston has shown so far in the postseason. When Toronto needed a big play last postseason, they got it in some way, shape or form.
Boston is just six wins away in the postseason, but has a similar trend. Let’s take a look at some examples of the Celtics playing at the championship level, examples that were simply missing from the team a season ago.
Performing critical hits
If you’re going to win a title, you need someone who is not only capable of creating their own shooting score at critical moments in games, but also someone who can be trusted to do so. Boston has two genuine scorers who can and have in Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker.
The need for these plays comes in many ways throughout NBA playoff games. Sometimes a team needs to build and maintain momentum. Sometimes you need to put an end to an opponent’s momentum. And sometimes you just need to win a game in the last few seconds.
Here’s an example of Tatum playing the braking role during Game 1. Boston had led by 19 points during the first quarter, but Toronto had come back to nine early in the second quarter. The Raptors had all the momentum, until Tatum did this:
It may not sound like a big shot as it took place early in the second quarter, but it was. Imagine if Tatum had missed and Toronto went down and scored at the other end. Suddenly, it’s a seven-point game, and the outcome of the contest could well have been different.
Here’s another example, this time from Game 2 on Monday. Boston led by just one point in the final minute. He badly needed a bucket to advance by three and make sure he would at least be tied after Toronto’s next possession. The Cs did it thanks to Walker’s patented step back against Serge Ibaka, a replica of the same move he used to shake Al Horford during the first round for an equally critical basket that essentially sealed Boston’s Game 3 victory over the 76ers. during the match. first round.
It’s impossible to underestimate the importance of this type of shot creation and shooting ability. Shots like these define title races.
Critical Time Defense
Everyone knows the old saying that defense wins championships. It’s true, especially in times of crisis.
Every team that wins a championship relies on its defense to stop at the end of games at some point or another, and not just in Game 7 situations. This is a constant need throughout long, arduous playoff races.
The Celtics have excelled in this department throughout the Playoffs, particularly during the final minutes of Game 2. During the final two minutes or more of tight competition, Boston held Toronto to just three points, including the last 60. scoreless seconds of what was a one-possession game.
Look at this stop. Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown switch smoothly, leaving Smart as the main defender in an isolated situation against All-Star Pascal Siakam. Smart, a fully defensive first-team player who should be in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation, not only drives Siakam’s hip to the basket, but also pushes the ball when Siakam lifts for a layup.
Toronto recovered the ball after the strip, but then Siakam went out of bounds on the next incoming play. Even if he hadn’t, the C’s were still in a quality defensive position to stop.
That wasn’t the first time this postseason that the Cs needed a stop and got one, and it certainly won’t be the last.
Mental toughness
Fulfilling the two previous topics is not easy. That requires a mental advantage that most teams in this league lack.
It also brings him back from a 12-point deficit at the end of the third quarter against an experienced, veteran, and championship-winning opponent, all without having his A-game available that night. That’s exactly what Boston did during Game 2 on Monday night, just as it did during Game 3 of the first round.
Monday night was a fight, to say the least, for the guys in green. The Celtics shot just 42.1 percent from the field, committed 17 turnovers and received just three points off their bench in the final three quarters of the game. Yet somehow they dug deep and found a way to take down the defending champs. Sure, it took a bit of luck and a wild stretch of Smart, but they found a way anyway, and that’s what teams with championship DNA do.
