Countless Green Teamers tried to remain positive Sunday night after their beloved Boston Celtics were run out of the gym in Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
The Celtics, after all, already earned a Game 1 victory at Chase Center on Thursday night. It meant Boston already took home-court advantage, and it’s fair to think if you told Celtics fans the team would split the two games in Golden State before the series started, they likely would be thrilled. It made Sunday like house money, right?
Celtics head coach Ime Udoka didn’t exactly have the same view point.
“We look at it as a disappointing loss in Game 2, a game we didn’t play up to our potential and our standard,” Udoka told reporters after Boston’s 107-88 defeat, as transcribed by ASAP Sports, when asked if he views a split positively. “Regardless of what happened in Game 1, that’s behind us.”
It’s certainly a championship-caliber mindset from the first-year head coach, and for good reason. The Celtics, as they’ve done throughout the postseason, shot themselves in the foot with the game hanging in the balance. Golden State went on a 19-2 run during the final 4:32 of the third quarter to put the game away, benefiting from Boston’s turnovers, missed baskets and overall sloppy play.
All told, the Celtics allowed the Warriors to score 33 points on 19 giveaways in the contest. The C’s third-quarter struggles, which the team supposedly addressed leading into Game 2, resulted in being outscored 35-14 in the third quarter.
“We had opportunities,” Udoka said. “Like I said, to give up 18 of their 52 (points) in the first half based off turnovers, and obviously allowed them to be in that situation up two.”
The Celtics could have put a stranglehold on the best-of-seven series if they came out and did not aid in their second-half demise. At the very least, a down-to-the-wire loss wouldn’t completely shift the momentum like Sunday’s final result did. But the Celtics, as it’s been said, don’t like to make it easy on themselves.
Now they’ll turn their sights to rebounding from a loss with the next two games at TD Garden, another opportunity to put themselves in the driver’s seat. Game 3 against the Warriors is scheduled for Wednesday with tipoff set for 9 p.m. ET.
