With their victory in Game 3 of the 2022 NBA Finals, the boys from “Beantown” were halfway to winning their first title in 14 years. That victory 13 days ago would be their last of the championship round as they suffered their longest losing streak since the close of 2021.
The Celtics exceptional season where they
overcame a rough start and willed themselves to another Finals appearance ended
with a 103-90 thud to the now seven-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors on
Thursday night, falling to 17-5 in The Finals in their history.
This was just the second time in the
Celtics Finals history that a team clinched the NBA title on their home floor.
Their arch-rivals the Los Angeles Lakers won their ninth of 17 NBA titles in
their history at the old Boston Garden on June 9, 1985 with a 111-100 victory
in Game 6.
Things started off well for the C’s, who
led 14-2 at the start of Game 6. But the Warriors outscored them 35-8,
including a 21-0 run bridging the first and second quarters that put the
Celtics behind the eight ball from that point on.
During that game-seizing run the by Warriors,
the Celtics went 0/7 from the field, including 0/4 from three-point range with
two turnovers.
Trailing 54-39 at the half, and 72-50
after a made three-pointer by 2022 Bill Russell Finals MVP Stephen Curry of the
Warriors with 6:01 left in the third quarter, the Celtics went on a 16-4 run
that got them within 76-66 after three quarters. A three-pointer by Jaylen
Brown cut the deficit to 86-78 with 5:33 left in the fourth quarter. But the
Warriors answered with a 10-3 that brought the margin to 15 points at 96-81 and
sealed the Warriors seventh title in franchise history, including their fourth
Larry O’Brien trophy since 2015.
It was the first time that first-year head
coach Ime Udoka lost three in a row for the first time in their Finals history
as they dropped to 17-5 in their 22 appearances in the title round. This was
also their first three-game skid since dropping three straight from Dec. 25-29,
2021.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 34
points on 12/23 shooting, including 5/11 from three-point range. Al Horford
registered his sixth double-double of this postseason with 19 points and 14
rebounds, scoring 12 of those 19 points in the third quarter.
In the biggest game of his young career,
Jayson Tatum struggled scoring 13 points, going 6/18 from the field with seven
assists, three steals, and five turnovers. He especially struggled in the
second half of Game 6 scoring just two points on 1/8 from the floor.
It was a brutal end for the three-time
All-Star, who shot 36.7 percent from the field for the 2022 Finals, his second
lowest field goal percentage in a playoff series in his career.
“This is tough, you know. Getting to this
point and not accomplishing what we want to,” Tatum who averaged 21.5 points,
6.8 rebounds, and seven assists on 41.8 percent from three-point range said in
his postgame presser after the loss.
“It hurts, you know. We all could’ve did
things better. I feel like I could’ve done a lot of things better. But like I
said we competed. We tried all season, all playoffs.”
The three things that did the Celtics in
the last three games of The Finals was their inability to get consistent
scoring outside of Tatum and Brown following their Game 1 comeback win
(120-108) at the Warriors. Their inability to take care of the basketball. And
how they let Curry hit one dagger three-point shot after another, after
another, after another.
When the Celtics won Game 1 at the
Warriors, overcoming a 15-point third quarter deficit, while Brown had 24
points, seven boards, and five assists on 10/23 shooting, it was Horford who
led the way with 26 points on 9/12 shooting, including hitting a career-high
six three-pointers, going 6/8 from distance, scoring 11 of his 26 points in the
fourth quarter on a perfect 4/4 shooting, with 2/2 on his triple tries. Derrick
White had 21 points, going 5/8 on his triples, and Marcus Smart had 18 points,
going 4/7 from three-point range.
The Celtics in Game 1 outscored the
Warriors 40-16 in the final period after getting outscored 38-24 in the third
quarter, going 9/12 on their triple tries in the quarter and 21/41 from
distance in Game 1. The +24-point differential in the fourth quarter was the
Celtics largest in their Finals history.
They more than made up for the ineffectiveness
of Tatum who had 12 points and 13 assists but was just 3/17 from the floor.
In the Game 6 loss outside of Horford and
Brown, Smart and White combined for 11 points on 5/18 shooting, including 1/4
from three-point range.
The Celtics entered the 2022 Playoffs as
one of the league’s best defensive squads, and it showed throughout the first
three rounds of the playoffs led by Smart, the 2022 Kia Defensive Player of the
Year.
Outside of Curry’s, 7/22 performance from
the field, including 0/9 from three-point range for 16 points and eight
assists, the Celtics defense was torched by the two-time Kia MVP as he
registered 30-plus points in four of the six games, hitting at least five
triples in the other five games. Curry made seven three-pointers on his way 43
points and 10 boards on 14/26 shooting in Game 4 win by the Warriors over the
Celtics June 10 that tied the series 2-2.
Their biggest culprit in why they lost was
their inability to take care of the basketball from their seven-game win in the
East Finals against the No. 1 Seeded Miami Heat.
That was especially true in Game 6 when
the Celtics committed 23 turnovers that led to 20 Warriors points. Those 23
turnovers were the Celtics most in a Finals game since 1976.
To bring into clearer context the Celtics
inability to take care of the basketball ended up being their downfall this
postseason, they went 1-8 when they committed 16-plus turnovers (13-2 when the
committed 15 or fewer turnovers).
Every time a Celtics ball handler over
penetrated in the paint or made very indecisive or sloppy passes, the Warriors
turned those miscues into points, especially from three-point range.
In the early part of this season when the
Celtics had their struggles back in the 2021 portion of this season, Smart
after a loss versus the Toronto Raptors called Tatum and Brown out for their
inability to make the proper reads when they were getting doubled.
Both players got better at making the
proper reads when they got trapped and that coupled with the Celtics stellar
defense is how they finished the regular season 26-6 and earned the second-best
record in the Eastern Conference at 51-31.
But in the East Finals against the Heat
and in The Finals against the Warriors, the Celtics turnover issued became a
major issue and ultimately cost them winning their 18th title in
franchise history.
Tatum by himself had 100 total turnovers
in the 2022 Playoffs, the most in a single postseason since turnovers became an
official stat in 1977-78 season.
“They won. We lost. We did it to
ourselves,” Brown said after the loss. “So, we had opportunities to go up and
win, and I guess we showed our immaturity at times and it stings, you know.”
Whether it was being immature or
inexperienced, the Celtics did not have the right stuff to overtake the more
experienced Warriors.
That experienced really showed in their
ability to win consistently at home this postseason, where after winning their
first two games this postseason at home versus the Brooklyn Nets in the
First-Round, the Celtics went 4-6 from that point on.
The Celtics were 6-6 at home, compared to
8-4 on the road in the 2022 Playoffs.
That immaturity and inexperience also led
to the Celtics having to close out the Bucks and Heat respectively in 7th
and decisive game of the two prior rounds, which led to fatigue from having to
play those extra games.
What also specifically hurt the Celtics in
The Finals against the Warriors was their inability to start off second halves
playing with any kind of force.
For the series, the Warriors had a +33 points differential in the third quarter with the Celtics only outscoring the now NBA champions to start the second half by 11 points (35-24 in Game 5) and by five points (27-22) in Game 6.
The Celtics the first three games of The
Finals had a +40-point differential in the fourth quarter. In the last three
games of the series, which as mentioned the Celtics lost, they were outscored
by nine points in the final period in Game 4 (28-19), losing 107-97 and Game 5,
falling 104-94. In the Game 6 title clincher, the Warriors outscored the
Celtics 27-24 in the final period, holding off a rally by the homestanding C’s
in the final period.
Even with their disappointing conclusion
to wonderful season for the Celtics who overcame an aforementioned tough start to
this season, where they began 2-5. They fell to 18-21 following a 108-105 loss
Jan. 6 at New York Knicks, where they blew a 25-point lead. They would finish
the regular season 28-7 after being 23-24 following a 109-105 loss Jan. 11
versus the Portland Trail Blazers.
They swept the No. 7 Seeded Brooklyn Nets in
the opening-round 4-0. They outlasted the defending champion Bucks and the
aforementioned top seeded Heat each in seven games.
“Looking at all the [bleep] that we had to
get through to get here. Just to even get to this point. To have an
opportunity. So proud of this team,” Smart, who had nine points, nine assists,
and six rebounds in Game 6 said in his postgame presser about the Celtics
2021-22 season. “Obviously, we didn’t accomplish our goal. But a lot of people….counted
us out early on this season. So, for us we’ll take it.”
For the Celtics now, it is about figuring
out a way of getting back to The Finals in 2023 and winning title No. 18.
Priority one for them would be getting a
legitimate starting point guard to take the pressure off Tatum and Brown in
terms of facilitating and creating shots for their teammates as well as score.
As great as Smart was throughout the
season when he became the Celtics primary point guard, that came by default as
Dennis Schroder, who they signed in free agency in the summer of 2021 did not work
out and was dealt at the Feb. 10 trade deadline to the Houston Rockets,
bringing back Daniel Theis for a second tour of duty with the C’s.
Perhaps the biggest culprit in why the
Celtics lost is experience.
Entering the 2022 NBA Finals, the Warriors
between Bill Russell Finals MVP Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green,
Andre Iguodala, and Kevon Looney, they had a total of 123 games played in their
NBA Finals careers, while the Celtics entire roster had zero such games.
That experience showed as the Warriors won Game 2 of this series 107-88 to tie the series at 1-1. They won Game 4 at the Celtics to tie the series 2-2 and took the final three games of this series, which included the title clinching victory on the Celtics home court as mentioned earlier.
The hope is with a great close to the season
and going through the rugged Eastern Conference opponents in the superstar
driven Nets; the defending NBA champion Bucks; and the No. 1 Seeded Heat, the
Celtics can take the lessons, both good and bad they went through this season
to use as fuel this summer to improve both individually and collectively to hopefully
be in this same position again and produce a different result.
It is not a given the Celtics will be back
though. Just as the Bucks, who last season, became champions and this season,
thanks to the Celtics, were ousted in the East Semis. The Heat two seasons back
in the restart in Orlando, FL reached the 2020 Finals, where they lost to the Lakers
in six games.
The Boston Celtics had dreams of winning
their 18th title in franchise history and were halfway their winning
Game 3 (116-100) and taking a 2-1 lead before suffering their aforementioned
first three-game skid since late December 2021.
There is no guarantee they will win it all
in 2022-23. The good news is their head coach has experience losing in The
Finals and then coming back and winning it the next season when he was part of
the San Antonio Spurs coaching staff that lost in the 2013 Finals to the LeBron
James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh led Heat in seven games and came back and
defeated them in five games in 2014 Finals.
So, if the Celtics can put the work in to
get better this summer as well as continue to build on the foundation they
built this past season, they can put themselves in position for title No. 18 in
June 2023.
“It’s going to hurt and it will hurt for a
while and probably that stuff never goes away,” Coach Udoka, who was an assistant
coach with Spurs from 2012-19 said about his team’s emotions after losing Game
6 versus the Warriors. “I have lost before, and so, that was part of the message.
Let it propel us forward.”
“Obviously, getting to your ultimate goal
and falling a few games short, it’s going to hurt. There’s a lot of guys in
there [locker room] very emotional right now.
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