Alex Cora knows the feeling of exceeding expectations just to ultimately come up short, much like the Boston Celtics.
Boston fell to Golden State in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to give Steve Kerr, Steph Curry and the Warriors their fourth NBA championship.
The Red Sox in 2021 came within two games of the World Series after eliminating the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays, only to fall to the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series to end what was a magical run after many wrote them off before last season even started.
The Celtics faced a similar fate. In December, they were eighth in the Eastern Conference with many speculating whether it was worth breaking up Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, while others were wondering whether Ime Udoka was the right fit.
Something changed and Boston went on to punch its ticket to the NBA Finals, but couldn’t finish the job as it watched Golden State celebrate at TD Garden on Thursday night.
Cora, who was sitting courtside with his girlfriend Angelica, tweeted a simple message of appreciation after the Celtics’ loss.
The Celtics certainly have a lot to be proud of this season and can now shift their focus to the offseason and try to work out what went wrong (turnovers, playing hero ball, etc.) so they can make another run next year.
Until then, maybe we’ll see some Celtics players around Fenway Park to show support for the Red Sox.
