MIAMI — It’s coming again to Boston.
Somehow, a way, after Derrick White’s buzzer-beating tip-in received an epic Game 6, the Celtics have responded to a 3-0 collection deficit within the Eastern Conference Finals to pressure a Game 7 on Monday night time at TD Garden, the place historical past might be made.
No workforce in NBA historical past has received a best-of-seven collection from a 3-0 gap. One-hundred fifty groups have failed. The Celtics are solely the fourth to pressure a Game 7. Not solely can they change into the primary, they might advance to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive season in doing so.
Monday night time – on Memorial Day, no much less – on the Garden guarantees to be one of many craziest dwelling environments the Celtics have skilled in current reminiscence.
“I’ve never been so excited to go back to Boston in my life, and I cannot wait to see all the fans on Monday because it’s going to be fun,” Jayson Tatum mentioned.
The Celtics have been unable to keep away from the comparisons to the 2004 Red Sox, who grew to become the primary workforce in baseball historical past to beat the identical deficit within the ALCS in opposition to the Yankees. It began earlier than they even received a sport on this collection. But the comparisons, as pressured as they appeared, are actual now.
Could there be a 2004 reunion on the Garden on Monday? Johnny Damon, a member of the 2004 Red Sox workforce, was at Game 6 in Miami and tweeted after the Celtics’ win, “Might need to fly up to Boston.” David Ortiz has been a staple at Celtics’ playoff video games, and Al Horford – a pal of Ortiz’s – was requested if he’s give him a name to be there on Monday.
“That’d be great,” Horford mentioned. “You know at this level, that is particular for Boston and Boston sports activities. …
“I can’t wait. I can’t wait. It’s gonna be electric from before, throughout, after. So I’m just really excited to have that opportunity.”
The Celtics fan base was well-represented in Miami. There have been noticeably extra C’s followers within the constructing for Game 6 and than Games 3 and 4, and so they made their presence recognized all through the night time. There have been a number of loud “Let’s go Celtics!” chants in the course of the fourth quarter. After the win, a big crowd of Celtics followers made their approach to TNT’s “Inside the NBA” set on the Kaseya Center for the present.
During Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla’s press convention, C’s followers have been nonetheless loud as they exited the sector.
Now think about what Monday can be like?
Jaylen Brown famously known as out the followers earlier than Game 7 in opposition to the 76ers, and so they responded. The Celtics star can’t look ahead to what’s in retailer on Monday.
“Man, I can only imagine,” Brown mentioned. “I know these fans, you can hear them here in Miami, so I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like for Game 7. It’s going to be huge. The best two words in sports is “Game 7,” and our dwelling crowd, I do know they’re going to deliver the power, so I’m excited.”
Still, the Celtics aren’t taking something with no consideration.
They know they bought away with one on Saturday night time. They produced their worst 3-point efficiency of the season. Their protection stepped up once more, however they blew one other double-digit fourth quarter result in Jimmy Butler and the Heat. If Marcus Smart’s missed shot bounced the opposite method and White wasn’t there for the tip-in, their season can be over proper now.
The Celtics actually celebrated the win, one of the crucial legendary endings in franchise historical past. But they know they haven’t received something but. They know Saturday doesn’t matter in the event that they don’t full the job and win Game 7.
“We all talked about it,” Tatum mentioned. “We’re all conscious it’s not time to have a good time. We didn’t accomplish something. We received an enormous sport that we needed to win in unimaginable style. We’re pleased with the best way we performed, pleased with the best way we figured it out.
“But the job is far from finished. (The Heat) is a great team, really well-coached team, and we’ve got to be ready on Monday. It’s not over. Both teams want this extremely — like to the highest degree. They want it. We want it. The guys are competing on both ends, giving everything they have.”
Brown echoed that sentiment, however famous the momentum that Game 6 can provide them for Monday.
“It means nothing if we come and lay an egg on our home floor,” Brown mentioned. “Still centered, however excited that we got here right here and did what we mentioned we was going to do. …
“It gives you a supreme boost in confidence, man,” he added on the Game 6 enhance. “It doesn’t get too much worse than being down 0-3. We feel like we’ve been to hell and back. We feel like we can face any adversity that gets thrown at us in the duration of the game or the duration of the season or in the postseason. It all means nothing if we don’t come out and give our best effort on our home floor on Monday night.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com