Celtics take season’s worth of lessons into Game 5 of NBA Finals with latest chance to secure title

BOSTON (AP) — The Celtics picked probably the most inopportune time to play their worst recreation of the season.

Boston’s 122-84 Sport 4 loss to Dallas had every kind of superlatives, and none of them had been good.

It ended the Celtics’ 10-game playoff win streak. It was the Celtics’ lowest scoring output of the season and marked the primary time the Celtics have allowed the Mavericks to eclipse 100 factors within the sequence on a stellar evening for Dallas stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

It additionally reminded the Celtics that placing a championship bow on what has been one of many franchise’s most profitable seasons would require the identical resilience they’ve proven throughout a postseason by which they haven’t misplaced consecutive video games.

“It’s a studying lesson, for positive. Bought to indicate up and present out each evening. They’re not going to roll over,” Celtics reserve Sam Hauser stated. “They’re down 3-1 now. They’re determined. … They’re not going to make it simple on us.”

As humbling as Sport 4’s loss was, historical past might be on the Celtics’ facet for Sport 5.

Whereas Friday’s loss was the seventh time that the Celtics have misplaced by 20 or extra factors within the finals, they’re 5-1 within the earlier six.

The sport Monday additionally falls on the sixteenth anniversary of Boston clinching its final championship in 2008.

“It’s an amazing alternative to reply,” stated Celtics ahead Jaylen Brown, whose completed Sport 4 with a minus-19 plus-minus – his second-worst of those playoffs and third-worst of his complete playoff profession. “We simply regroup. We maintain our identical mentality, and we come out and prepare to battle in one other battle on our house flooring.”

It’s additionally the newest likelihood for coach Joe Mazzulla to strengthen the teachings he has tried to instill in his group. Hauser recalled Boston’s Sport 3 win when Dallas rallied to chop a 21-point fourth quarter result in only one with lower than 4 minutes to play.

“The Mavs had been on that large run, the beginning of the fourth there. He got here in and stated, ‘That was nice. That makes us hungrier,’” Hauser stated. “He didn’t even give attention to the win, he centered on that, which was cool. It retains all of us grounded and understanding that we’ve extra work to do.”

It was the identical tone Mazzulla tried to set in the course of the common season.

Boston opened the season by profitable its first 5 video games earlier than shedding in additional time at Minnesota. Postgame Mazzulla expressed pleasure for his group experiencing an opponent difficult it to play its finest basketball. Following one other loss two nights later at Philadelphia, the Celtics reeled off six straight victories.

In February, the Celtics misplaced on their house courtroom to a Los Angeles Lakers group with out each LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Then Boston reeled off a season-high 11-game win streak.

The Celtics are actually only one extra bounce-back win away from seeing these cases of adversity bear championship fruit.

In the event that they want any extra comfort — every of the Celtics earlier three title-winning groups in 1984, 1986 and 2008 all misplaced with close-out alternatives on the street after which returned to win at house.

“Shut-out video games are exhausting. Shut-out video games are robust,” Brown stated. “They all the time have been like that, and also you’ve acquired to have excessive focus. You’ve acquired to come back out and meet their depth to complete issues out.”

Jayson Tatum is anticipating the TD Backyard crowd to deliver the vitality to match the second.

“I feel it’s going to be as loud because it’s ever been in my seven years of being a Celtic,” he stated. “Excited to return house. Have fun Father’s Day on Sunday and compete for a championship on Monday.”

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