Charles Barkley is a top-tier troll. But when the Boston Celtics fought for survival against the Miami Heat, and succeeded, Barkley sang a different tune at Kaseya Center on Tuesday night.
The Celtics came through, defeating the Heat 116-99, to cut Miami’s Eastern Conference finals series lead to 3-1. Boston, most importantly, made a series of adjustments, whether it be in head coach Joe Mazzulla’s urgency to call timely time-outs, Jayson Tatum’s willingness to shoot the ball in the fourth quarter, or the overall defensive effort from the Celtics.
Barkley was so (understandably) impressed that the Hall of Famer himself made a bold prediction after watching the pendulum swing in favor of the Celtics.
“I think Game 5’s gonna be a cakewalk for the Celtics,” Barkley predicted on TNT’s postgame coverage. “I think they gonna have so much energy because with no getting swept is — they don’t get a cookie. They’re gonna go back home, that place gonna be loud, incredible. I think they gonna kill Miami next game and they gonna come back down here, and I’m gonna tell you something else. Game 6 in Miami, gonna be Game 7 for Miami.”
Barkley added: “Now the fun starts, now the fun starts.”
Beforehand, the Celtics embraced the divot they’d dug themselves into, drawing inspiration from the 2004 Boston Red Sox, who overcame the same scenario and went on to win the World Series. Fast forward 19 years later and the Celtics can either become the first team in NBA history to replicate that jaw-dropping comeback or close the door on a season filled with hopes of making a return to the NBA Finals.
On the board, the Celtics improved to a perfect 3-0 in elimination games this postseason and have a chance to continue that trend in Game 5 in front of the TD Garden home crowd.
Barkley further emphasized his confidence in the C’s, announcing that he’d be opening his wallets to back up his talk before Thursday night’s tipoff.
“When I call my bookie, I’ma say, ‘Whatever I can bet (on the Celtics), give it to me, bookie,'” Barkley said. “… I didn’t realize it was gonna take the Celtics four games to play.”
