Getty Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
For anybody watching the Eastern Conference Finals, it was clear the Boston Celtics made life harder than it needed to be, as they allowed an injury-hobbled Miami Heat to push them to seven games.
Some observers believe that Boston’s inability to finish off a wounded opponent is evidence that they’re still not ready to lift an NBA Championship, especially against a veteran Golden State Warriors team with a wealth of experience.
Sure, Boston took the hard road, and sure, they had moments where they looked capable of throwing it all away. But the fact is, this Celtics team has now defeated the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Heat en route to a finals berth. Yet, according to Colin Cowherd, Boston’s struggles throughout the conference finals are all that matters, and we’ve learned all we need to about what to expect in the coming weeks.
“Boston’s one of those teams, they’re not a great team, they’re a good team. They do something really well, defensively they’re very strong. But they can’t put you away, they do in the regular season, they were second behind Phoenix for blowouts, but once you get to the post-season, better coaching, better teams, Boston can win games, control games, but it mostly feels like they allow teams to stay close…They’re just not gifted enough offensively to put away a banged-up, fairly average Miami team,” Cowherd said on a recent episode of The Colin Cowherd Podcast.
Celtics Recognize Size of Task Ahead
When you look at this current Celtics roster, it’s littered with young, high-level talent. And while being young has its upside, it does limit you in terms of experience and ability to stay locked in throughout a 48-minute contest – as we’ve seen from Boston throughout the NBA calendar year.
However, according to Ime Udoka, the Celtics are aware of the task at hand and are fully focused on overcoming the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, regardless of how tough that task may seem.
“It would be all for naught if we go lay an egg in the Finals.”
Ime Udoka continues to keep his eye on the prize after Celtics win Game 7 and head to the NBA Finals
“It would be all for naught if we go lay an egg in the Finals, and we understand that. Guys were quick to celebrate but quick to flip the page and say, we got four more. We don’t hang or celebrate Eastern Conference Championships in the Celtics organization. So, we all fall in line and appreciate that standard of excellence. Playing for a championship because we’re here now, so, try to finish the deal,” Udoka told the media shortly after the Celtics booked their place in the NBA Finals at the Heat’s expense.
Since 2017 the Celtics have faced Golden State 10 times and have won seven of those contests, and while those games all came in the regular season, that will be a statistic that isn’t lost on the coaching staff or the players heading into this series.