The Celtics seemingly never lost sight of what was at stake Monday night at TD Garden.
A loss in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals would have been devastating for Boston. It would have signaled a departure from the Celtics’ ability to quickly bounce back from a defeat and also would have put the Celtics in a must-win situation on the road Wednesday.
But fortunately for the C’s, a win in their latest outing was never in doubt.
The Celtics imposed their will on the Heat from jump street in Game 4 and kept the pressure on until the final buzzer sounded. While the 102-82 final score indicates a blowout, it doesn’t accurately depict what went down Monday night in Boston. The Celtics punked the Heat and in the process sent a clear message to their conference counterpart before the best-of-seven series shifted back to South Beach.
As Jayson Tatum explained after Game 4, the C’s knew what approach would be the most effective in trying to tie the series.
“Urgency,” Tatum told reporters, per ESPN. “That was a focal point coming into this game, to just have a sense of urgency on both ends of the floor, from start to finish. Really starting the game better, obviously, than we did last game. That’s something that we talked about and something that we executed tonight.”
The Celtics now are challenged to showcase that sense of urgency in a second consecutive game, something Boston hasn’t really been able to do since Round 1. But if the C’s play Wednesday like they did Monday, they’ll have a golden opportunity to punch their NBA Finals ticket on their own floor.
