Former Boston Celtics Hall-of-Famers Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were none too pleased with how their former team did against the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. On the June 2 episode of “KG Certified,” both Garnett and Pierce vented their frustrations with how the Celtics bowed out.
Garnett called out the Celtics for their energy or lack of when they started Game 7.
“I watched the first two minutes of how the C’s came out! I don’t like that energy! That’s not energy to beat you!” Garnett exclaimed.
Garnett used Pierce’s differing mindsets when they played together on the Celtics to explain why the current Celtics are different.
“One thing I know, Lord, when P (Pierce) get in there, he had two types of P’s. One P where he was like, ‘All right, come on y’all. I’m saying we should beat these guys. I don’t want to be out here all day,’ boom, we get out of here. When P wanted to blow somebody out, P get in the huddle and go… ‘Hey look, let’s go ahead and send a message to these n****s right here.’ We finna get in, and that energy was like, ‘Aw s***, we gorilla tonight!’ They didn’t have that.”
Pierce, on the other hand, criticized the Celtics for how they covered Caleb Martin.
“They should have put Martin on his ass a few times,” Pierce said. “He just kept going to the rack. He hit threes…I would have been like…”He goes to the ground. Imma send him to the baseline and put him on his ass. He supposed to fall. He supposed to take the hit.”
Danny Ainge Voices Support For Joe Mazzulla
Former Celtics’ President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge voiced his support for both his former team and head coach Joe Mazzulla while talking with Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe.
“This team found joy. They were inconsistent, but they were rooting for each other. They were all defending Joe in the media,” Ainge told Shaughnessy. “You see Joe’s toughness and stubbornness. He’s a relentless worker. He has a passion to learn. Joe is a leader, and I think this was a difficult situation with the high expectations the team had coming in. I don’t think there’s anybody there that doesn’t believe that Joe is better than Ime (Udoka) as a coach.”
Mazzulla was hired as an assistant coach by the Celtics back when Ainge was their President of Basketball Operations in 2019.
Nate Robinson Says Celtics Didn’t Have ‘It’
Former Celtic Nate Robinson gave his thoughts on the Celtics in an interview with Sporting Post, saying that they didn’t have the “it” factor
“They didn’t win the championship, this Celtics group — and the reason is because they didn’t have ‘it’ — whatever Celtics had back in the day with Larry Bird, they had ‘it.’”
Robinson attributed their struggles to one issue in particular.
“They didn’t have it. They didn’t have players taking quality shots,” he added. “They have a group of talented guys, but they have something missing.”
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Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce Put Celtics on Blast Over Game 7 Flop