That’s a truth.
After
a wasting an opportunity to finish off the Miami Heat at home in Game 6 of the
Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics blew a 17-point second quarter lead and
gave the worn-down Heat a glimmer of hope. This time, the Celtics finished the
job, holding off Miami and Jimmy Butler with a 100-96 victory in
Game 7 on Sunday. Jimmy Butler, who was fantastic once again, missed a
3-pointer with 16.6 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter that could have
given the Heat a 99-98 lead. Boston’s Jayson Tatum earned the first Larry Bird
Trophy, given to the MVP of the East finals. He had 26 points, 10 rebounds, six
assists, two blocks and a steal in the series finale. The Celtics continue a
remarkable turnaround. On Jan. 6, they were 18-21 and in 11th place in the
East. “We always had glimpses of success,” Udoka said earlier in the series.
“We were just trying to be consistent for the most part, understanding that we
were really good defensively all along. Offensively trying to get our guys on
the same page, get them to understand what we needed from them. That was the
goal at that point. But we did see good things early on at times. Just up and
down, inconsistent a little bit. But we were always optimistic if we got
healthy and our defense would carry over, offensively we'd continue to
improve.” Boston advances to the NBA Finals for the 22nd time in franchise
history and for the first time since 2010. The Celtics will face the Golden
State Warriors and try to win a league-record 18th championship, which would
break a tie the Los Angeles Lakers.
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