Celtics face final obstacle on their way to finally being crowned champions
Jayson Tatum was mic’d up for the first game of this year’s playoffs. During pregame warmups, he was overheard talking to teammates saying, “We’re back. We waited long enough. All summer. Preseason. Regular season. All-star break. Play-in tournament. We’re back. We back.”
Tatum is one of the top ten basketball players in the world. The downside of that is that Tatum knows it, and very often he plays like he knows it. That pregame comment speaks volumes to me, and it did at the time when I first heard it.
He sounds entitled. Almost as if the preseason and regular season were just foregone conclusions. The playoffs was where he belongs. But just being in the playoffs is not enough. Not for this team. Not when you have a $286 million player playing alongside you. Not when you acquire a 7-foot-2, insanely talented big man who has no issues with swallowing his pride and playing third fiddle to Tatum and Brown. Not when the team responded to the Milwaukee Bucks acquiring Damian Lillard by trading for seasoned veteran Jrue Holiday. Holiday would sign a $135 million extension during the season. Not to mention they have a bench player in Jayson Pritchard who signed a $30 million extension this year.
Simply making the playoffs isn’t good enough. This year’s Celtics won 64 games. Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen’s 2008 Celtics won 66 games. The Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish era won 60-plus games six times in the 1980’s.
What do Bird, McHale, Parish, Pierce, Garnett, and Allen have that Tatum and Brown don’t? That’s right – a championship ring. They’ve come close. They were two games away from winning it all in 2022 before not being able to close out the series against the Golden State Warriors. They were expected to be in The Finals again the following year, but they messed around and couldn’t overcome a three games to none deficit against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals.
And they haven’t won anything yet this year, either. Some have said the Celtics have had a little leprechaun luck going for them this season. They beat the Heat without Jimmy Butler. Donovan Mitchell got hurt in the Cleveland series. Tyrese Haliburton got injured in the Indiana series. Not to mention Milwaukee lost Giannis for the stretch run and the playoffs. Sure their road was cleared of a lot of obstacles, but they would have beaten all those teams, regardless. Besides, the Celtics were without their big man, Kristaps Porzingis, for the most of the playoffs.
It is scary that the Celtics have made it to The Finals this easily without Porzingis. But they will need him against Dallas.
The Mavericks are led by Luka Doncic. I admit to not having watched much of Doncic until these playoffs. I’ve always paid more attention to Denver’s Nikola Jokic. Maybe I even confused the two. I heard the hype about Doncic coming into the playoffs, but I just didn’t see it by looking at his physique and limited physical ability.
I know, I know. Tony, the guy has only been averaging over 28 points per game the last five seasons. I still think the guy has been living in Jokic’s shadow for the same reason Tatum hasn’t reached the next level of superstardom. He hasn’t won anything yet. But something is going to change this year for either Tatum or Doncic. One of them is going to have to win.
It is crazy to think, despite having already averaged over 28 points in five seasons, that Doncic is still only 25 years old. Tatum, by comparison, is a year older – 26.
Doncic is the closest thing to Larry Bird I’ve seen in my lifetime. Yes, he is white. Yes, he is unathletic. But he can score like no one else. He is a competitor on par with Bird, Jordan, Kobe, and Garnett. Sure, it is going to rub a lot of people in Boston the wrong way when they see how competitive he is. It won’t surprise me if he gets into it with Donnie Wahlberg courtside. He did it with Snoop Dogg in Minnesota
The Timberwolves took a lot of cheap shots at Doncic, trying to rattle him and get him off his game. In particular, Rudy Gobert played the villain by getting into it with Doncic. Doncic’s response was a game-winning three-pointer in Game Two of the Minnesota series right in the face of Gobert. Other players, like Naz Reid, also knocked Donic down to the court a few times. It was obvious the message given to the players was to beat up Doncic, physically.
But it is a credit to Doncic that he responded in a big way – averaging 32.4. points, 9.8 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game. He almost averaged a triple-double in the series. That shouldn’t come as a surprise because he has averaged almost those exact same numbers all season, and in his entire career.
Doncic’s supporting cast is nowhere near as good as Tatum’s. Doncic has old friend, Kyrie Irving, and that is about it. Rookie center, Dereck Lively II, has been a revelation in these playoffs, but he is no Shaquille O’Neal. He is not even a peak Al Horford. He is good for rebounding, blocking shots, and throwing down lob passes from Doncic or Irving.
But, again, that is a credit to the greatness of Doncic. His knees are banged up. The T’Wolves roughed him up. But he is still standing. Sure he may hobble up and down the court, and the bandages on his knees may show the occasional blood stain, but when the ball is in Doncic’s hands, good things happen – sometimes amazing things.
Well, that should be easy to stop, you say. He is only one man. The Celtics have four bona fide stars. That is where the heart and desire come in. That is where the determination comes in.
If Tatum, Brown, Porzingis, Holiday, and White come sleepwalking into this series, they may find themselves in the same boat they did with Miami last year – down three games to none and wondering why they aren’t just handing them the title.
Am I confident the Celtics’ starting five will answer the starting bell? No. I haven’t seen it. I haven’t seen the killer instinct. Sure, the Celtics have shown some grit coming back to win games in the closing minutes, especially against Indiana. But I think that had just as much to do with the inexperience and exuberance of the Pacers, as well as horrible coaching. I give Boston their due, though.
That is an advantage these Celtics have. Despite not winning a championship, they have boatloads of playoff experience at this juncture. That counts for something, and it did against the Pacers.
But have these Celtics acquired the little extra something that it takes to win championships? Jaylen Brown has shown he has it by nailing that big three-pointer at the end of Game One against Indiana. Do you have confidence in him at the free throw line in crunch time, though?
Tatum still hasn’t had that signature moment comparable to Brown’s shot. He scored 50 points against Milwaukee in the clinching playoff game a couple of years ago and it seems like that is enough for Tatum fans to hang their hat on. It is not enough, though. I am talking about a singular moment. Tatum hasn’t had that one moment. Just the opposite – it seems he shrinks away from those moments. Then he mopes when other teammates like Jaylen Brown win series MVP.
The great thing about Tatum is he does so many other things even if his shot is not falling. His rebounding never slumps, nor does his passing. Again, he is one of the top ten basketball players in the world. He might consider himself the top one. This series will help him move up a few rungs if his team wins and he outshines Doncic (and Jaylen Brown).
I need to see it to believe it. Dallas in seven.