‘Difficult’ Boston Celtics Embrace Odd Identity On Way To NBA Finals

It seems the Celtics have found themselves an identity. As much as they’ve been defined this season by their top-ranked defense, their impressive depth, some shrewd maneuvers by team president Brad Stevens, the toughness of coach Ime Udoka and the brilliance of star forward Jayson Tatum, these Celtics have embraced a rather uncomfortable way of approaching the winning of basketball games: They are the Team That Makes Things Difficult.

Not on opponents, necessarily. But on themselves.

That was on full display in the most important game for the franchise in 12 years on Sunday night in Miami, as the Celtics took a wire-to-wire win over the Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals to earn their first trip to the NBA Finals since they faced the Lakers in 2010. They led by as many as 17 points in the game and were ahead by 13 points with 3:35 to go in the fourth quarter. But they allowed an 11-0 run, let the Heat claw back to 98-96 before finally staving off Jimmy Butler and friends to hold on for the win.

“That’s what we do, we did all that on purpose to make it interesting,” said Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, before he paused. “Nah, I’m just kidding. But that’s us. We’ve been responding all year, all season, to adversity, and today was the biggest test, not just of the year but of our careers, to mentally come into a Game 7, away, after losing on our homecourt, which was tough. We got it done.”

Oh, what adversity there has been.

There was the 14-point lead in the fourth quarter against Chicago on November 1, which Boston blew so thoroughly that it wound up losing by 14 points. There was the 19-point lead with just over three minutes to play in the third quarter against Cleveland two weeks later, which the Celtics turned into a two-point loss. There was the rock-bottom of blown leads on January 7, in New York, when the Celtics held a 25-point advantage and managed to lose on a 3-point buzzer-beater. After that one, Udoka ripped the team’s “lack of mental toughness to fight through those adverse times.”

Experience & Adversity Shone Through For Celtics

While that was happening, the Celtics were also stacking up defensive improvements and smoothing out an often rough-edged offense. By the end of January, the team had climbed back to .500 and followed that with a stretch in which they were 26-6, so often blowing out opponents that the fourth quarter did not much matter. The Celtics ranked 29^th in the NBA in fourth-quarter net rating after the Knicks debacle (minus-8.7 points per 100 possessions), but bumped up to 15^th (plus-0.5) after that game.

It wasn’t easy in the postseason, either, as the Celtics swept the Nets in the first round despite 47.6 points per game from the Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving combo, then dragged themselves past the Bucks in seven games, blowing a 14-point fourth-quarter lead in Game 5 at home. That forced the Celtics to win both Games 6 and 7 to advance.

And before there was the nerve-tightening close to Game 7 in Miami, there was a chance to win the series at home in Game 6. Instead, the Celtics committed 16 turnovers that led to 19 Heat points, and could not control Butler, who exploded for 41 points. That forced Game 7 and the Celtics’ precious near-blown lead.

That fourth-quarter lead was one the Celtics might have lost a few months ago, one they did blow against Milwaukee in Game 5. But Tatum said that the grind of some of those hard times—as well as previous losses in the Eastern Conference finals, to Cleveland in 2018 and to Miami in 2020—helped the Celtics pull out the win in the end.

“I think going through those tough times helped us learn, helped us grow, and once we get in that situation again, we respond differently,” Tatum said. “I think that is what it was today. You know, we would get up a big lead, and they’re a great team, well-coached and they would come back. But we kept responding. We kept the lead and we kept making winning basketball plays, everybody. It was big, it really was.”

In the end, there was no other way to finish off this series. A blowout Celtics win would not have fit the team’s identity, not after the wild swings that have defined Boston’s season, its first under Udoka. When Butler rose up for a transition 3-point attempt with 16 seconds to play and Miami down by two points, there was plenty of reason for Celtics backers to get a collective lump in the throat. Butler’s attempt, though, rimmed away.

Seems about right for the biggest any of these Celtics have had in their careers.

“It feels like it was always meant to be this way,” Udoka said. “Difficult. Two Game 7s in the last two series, shows what I said about our group. We fought through a lot of adversity this year. Resilient group. Tonight seemed to typify our season—17-point lead, that was good, we got off to a good start—but can’t ever quite slam the door, but have to grind it out. … This is a typical Celtics win.”