Tonight would have been Game 7 of the NBA Finals, but sadly that is not to be. I didn’t think the Celtics would play three straight bad games, but they did. Before the series started, I thought it would go seven. I thought the Celtics had a chance (they’ve always played the Warriors well), but I didn’t really expect the Celtics to win because of health issues, especially with Robert Williams and Marcus Smart. But after going up 2-1, I thought they were the better team. And things were looking good in Game 4. If not for a terrible fourth quarter and a great performance by Stephen Curry, the Celtics would have been up 3-1 and they probably would have won the series. Instead, the series was tied and the Celtics wouldn’t win another game.
Besides Stephen Curry, it was the Warriors’ defense that won the series. The Celtics’ defense wasn’t that bad in the Finals, but the Warriors were better. Jayson Tatum wasn’t good in the Finals, but that had a lot to do with the Warriors’ defense. Jaylen Brown was the best player for the Celtics in the Finals, but he turned the ball over too much and he wasn’t the only one doing that. The Celtics turned the ball over 97 times. The Warriors only turned it over 79 times. The Celtics outrebounded the Warriors in the series, but the Warriors had 29 more field goal attempts because of all those Celtics turnovers. The Celtics had a better three-point field goal percentage (but the Warriors made more threes) and made one more free throw than the Warriors attempted (but the Warriors shot a better percentage). A big difference was shooting on two-pointers. The Warriors were much better from two-point range. The Warriors shot almost 52% on two-point field goals. The Celtics were under 46% on two-point field goals. The Warriors’ defense had a whole lot to do with that.
Losing this series was nowhere near as bad as losing to the Lakers in the Finals 12 years ago. Game 7 of that series is still my worst loss ever as a sports fan. With this one, it wasn’t against their biggest rival and the Celtics wildly exceeded expectations. Let’s go back a few years. In 2018, that team would have been interesting if Gordon Hayward didn’t get hurt in the first game of the season. Then Kyrie Irving got hurt and the Celtics were still one game away from getting to the Finals. That was a fun playoff run. The next three seasons were mostly not fun. Kyrie Irving completely ruined the 2018-2019 season. And now he’s ruining the Nets so at least he’s not our problem anymore. Are there any other examples of fans being so happy to get rid of a player as talented as Kyrie Irving? No Celtics fan wanted him back after that season. The next season was fun for a while. Kemba Walker was the anti-Kyrie Irving. And people don’t remember how good he was until he got hurt. When that team was healthy, they were good enough to beat anybody. I didn’t think they would win four straight playoff series, but I thought they had a chance. But Kemba Walker and Gordon Hayward weren’t healthy in the bubble and they lost a disappointing series against the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. Last season was not fun. The team was not as good as they should have been and they lost to the Nets in the first round, which was the worst team they could lose to in the playoffs other than the Lakers.
This year’s team was wildly unfun for the first couple of months. They just found ways to lose games. I remember somebody I worked with once describing a situation by saying, “I know what fun feels like and this isn’t it.” That was what watching the Celtics was like for two of the three previous seasons and then the first couple of months of this season. They showed signs of life by blowing out the Suns on New Year’s Eve, but after losing to the Knicks on January 6, the Celtics were in 11th place. I definitely wasn’t expecting anything better than maybe making it out of the play in tournament. Then the turnaround started. The Celtics were playing like the best team in the league for a while. They were blowing everybody out, but then Robert Williams got hurt on March 27. The Celtics were still good, but they weren’t the same after that. Robert Williams came back in the playoffs. He had some moments, but he was never 100%. Staying healthy has always been his biggest issue. If he ever manages to stay healthy, he can be a really good player who can help the Celtics win a championship.
As disappointing as the finish was, it was a fun playoff run. Sweeping the Nets was absolutely wonderful. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant ranked first and 11th on my Sports Villain Power Rankings and the Lakers were so bad that they didn’t even make the play in tournament so there was no better team for the Celtics to beat and sweep in the playoffs this year (and by the way, not including Madison Bumgarner on my Sports Villain Power Rankings was an oversight, let’s slide him in at 16th between Jim Harbaugh and Jim Boeheim). The series against the Bucks was a great series. The Bucks probably would have won if they had Khris Middleton, but that’s the way it goes. If Robert Williams and Marcus Smart had been 100%, the Celtics might be celebrating their 18th championship right now. Injuries are a part of sports. The Celtics had to win an elimination game on the road and then Game 7 at home against the best player in the world to win that series and they did it. After the Lakers and Nets, the Heat are probably next on the list of NBA teams that I despise so beating them in the Eastern Conference Finals was fun. It shouldn’t have been as difficult as it was for the Celtics to win that series, but they did win it. And although it wasn’t pretty, winning Game 7 on the road is an accomplishment. This was the most fun season for the Celtics since they won the championship in 2008. In 2010, they got one game closer to winning a championship than they did this year, but that team never played well until the playoffs. This year’s team played at a championship level from the middle of January until Robert Williams got hurt at the end of March.
There have been so many times since 2010 where it looked like the Celtics were headed in the right direction and then something happened to derail them and you wondered if their window had closed. Isaiah Thomas got hurt, Gordon Hayward got hurt, Kyrie Irving made everybody miserable, Kemba Walker got hurt. But I am optimistic about the future. A lot can change in the offseason, but right now it seems like the Celtics and Bucks are clearly set up better than anybody else in the East. Jayson Tatum was bad in the Finals, but he’s young. He was great up until the Finals and then he had a bad series. He’ll be fine. There are other great players who won championships at a young age, but those guys all had other all time great players on their team if they won that young. For guys who were the best player on their team when they were that young, it took them longer to win championships (Isiah Thomas, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant). Jaylen Brown is also young. This experience should make Tatum and Brown better.
The Celtics were playing at a level similar to the 2008 Celtics for a little while. Besides not staying healthy, another difference between the Celtics in 2008 and this year was the bench. Derrick White and Grant Williams had their moments in the playoffs, but this bench was nowhere close to being as good as the bench for the Celtics in 2008. They had Eddie House, James Posey, P.J. Brown, Leon Powe, Glen Davis, Tony Allen, and Sam Cassell on the bench. House, Posey, Brown, and Powe all played big roles in helping the Celtics win the championship that year. The Celtics need to improve their bench. I have no idea what they’re going to do in the offseason. It’s my hope that good role players will now want to join the Celtics for a chance to win a championship (that’s how they got House, Posey, and Brown back then). I love Al Horford. He had a great season for them and helped them in a bunch of playoff games. But he just turned 36 years old. So he’s about two years younger than P.J. Brown was when he was with the Celtics. I would love to see him become this team’s version of P.J. Brown. If they had him as a guy off the bench that could give you some defense, rebounding, and toughness (plus being a guy who can stretch the defense, which P.J. Brown didn’t do), that would be awesome. That would mean finding another starter to replace Horford (it doesn’t have to be a power forward like Horford since most of their starters have positional flexibility, but the Celtics’ size was an advantage this season). The Celtics this year were missing a wing off the bench who could shoot (like James Posey). I have somebody in mind who would have been a really good fit for them. He also happens to be my favorite non-Celtic in the NBA. Yes, I’m talking about Notre Dame legend Pat Connaughton. Connaughton wasn’t good in Game 7 against the Celtics, but he was the Bucks’ third best player in that series with no Middleton. For the season, he averaged almost 10 points per game (mostly coming off the bench) and he shot over 39% from three. He has a player option so he could be a free agent and he is from Massachusetts.
So it was a fun season even if it wasn’t the finish I was hoping for. If Tatum and Brown get better and the Celtics can add a few pieces to get deeper (and Robert Williams can be healthy for a playoff run), hopefully I’ll only have to wait 12 months for the Celtics’ 18th NBA Championship. Let’s go Celtics.
