With 17 championship banners already hung in the TD Garden rafters, the Boston Celtics had an opportunity to win another one on Monday night after their disastrous performance in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
Coach Joe Mazzulla also reminded them that they would have two more opportunities following that.
Before Sunday’s practice, Celtics guard Jaylen Brown stated, “We don’t like to lose.” “I believe we’re prepared for Game 5. That, I believe, is the best response I can provide. I believe we’re prepared. We are in our house. And we’re excited about it.
With the best record in the NBA during the regular season, the Celtics performed even better in the postseason, winning 15 of their first 17 games and never losing a series. They had a 3-0 lead early on against Dallas, but the Mavericks pulled out a 122-84 victory on Friday night, the third-largest blowout in Finals history, to avoid elimination.
As a result, the series was returned to Boston, where the Celtics will attempt to win their first NBA championship since 2008 and an unprecedented 18th NBA title. That’s considered a drought in a city that has won 12 titles already this century.
Brown remarked, “This is what we all work towards.” “We are about to finish the tasks we set out to accomplish at the start of the season. Therefore, I believe it won’t be too hard to get everyone in that locker room to agree at this time.
Boston’s record 10-game postseason winning streak was broken by the Game 4 defeat, which also put an end to Kyrie Irving’s personal 13-game losing streak against his former team. In possible elimination games thus far in these playoffs, Boston had a perfect record of 3-0.
However, the Celtics and Dallas are well aware that they have three more opportunities to win the series. Mazzulla reportedly told his team on Sunday not to “surrender to that idea that we have to win tomorrow,” according to All-Star Jayson Tatum.
