Should the Celtics come all the back in the Eastern Conference finals and eliminate the Heat, it wouldn’t be the first time Boston sports fans see a local team erase a 3-0 series deficit.
The Red Sox, of course, defied those odds in the 2004 American League Championship Series en route to a World Series championship that ended an 86-year title drought for the franchise. At the forefront of that Boston rally was David Ortiz, who started to establish himself as one of the most clutch postseason hitters Major League Baseball has ever seen.
As such, there aren’t many athletes, past or present, in a better position to give advice to the Celtics at this juncture than Big Papi.
“Being 3-0, you’ve got two choices: You either quit or you go back out, and in professional sports, once you get to that point, there’s no way to quit,” Ortiz told The Associated Press on Monday, per NBC 10 Boston. “Once you get there — even if you’re 3-0 — you’re not thinking about quitting, you’re thinking about ‘OK, I hit bottom. I’ve got to go step-by-step now. I cannot try to win three games at once.'”
The Red Sox legend added: “I think that there’s no room for negativity once you get there. Every single thought has to be in a positive way, every single one, so you can bounce out of it.”
Joe Mazzulla turned to Ortiz and company’s improbable accomplishment after the Celtics were pushed to the brink of elimination. Boston’s first-year head coach believes the memorable 2004 ALCS helps the C’s “keep that narrow-minded focus” about the task at hand.
The reigning East champions will try to keep their season alive Tuesday night at Kaseya Center. Tipoff for Game 4 is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.
