Despite making an epic comeback from a 3-0 deficit to force a Game 7, the Boston Celtics were dominantly eliminated from the NBA Playoffs on Monday night, and a key factor in their poor performance was a bad injury to their top star in the early moments of the game.
The Boston Celtics showed a great deal of heart over the last few weeks. After keeping their postseason alive by outlasting the Philadelphia 76ers in the semifinals, the team found themselves in a stunning 3-0 hole in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat. Yet, unlike other teams, they did not shrink at the challenge.
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The same group that was able to reach the NBA Finals in 2022 took up the test and was able to pull off what only three other teams in league history were able to and forced the series to a seventh and decisive game. Unfortunately, the Boston Celtics were manhandled on their home court on Monday evening.
While a lot of credit needs to go to the Heat and how well they played, the Boston Celtics’ chances of winning last night’s matchup were severely hampered when their top player, Jayson Tatum, sprained his ankle in the first play of the game. It was a game-changing moment that he said after left him a “shell” of himself.
Boston Celtics record (’22-’23): 57-25
“It was just frustrating that I was … a shell of myself. It was tough to move. Just frustrating, it happening on the first play,” Tatum said after limping to the podium for his post-game press conference.
With his mobility badly hampered, that man that dropped 51 points in an epic Game 7 performance against the 76ers was only able to muster just 14 points on 5-13 shooting from the field. His aggressiveness was taken away from him, and with their best player unable to be himself, it affected the rest of the Boston Celtics and was likely the biggest reason the team was soundly defeated Monday.
After reaching the NBA Finals in 2022, the Boston Celtics fell well short of their goal again despite an amazing comeback to keep their series with the Heat competitive. That mix of results was at the heart of Tatum’s thoughts after the loss.
“You can’t go through life talking about what you could have, you should have done. [Expletive] happens and the past is the past,” Tatum said. “We fought like hell to give ourselves a chance today. Just not the outcome that we anticipated.”