Jaylen Brown called out Green Teamers to step up their game ahead of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers. Both Brown and others credited Boston Celtics fans for doing just that after a series-clinching win, and stressed how they hoped it would continue as long as the Green are hosting games this postseason.
The Celtics, however, haven’t given fans a performance to cheer about on a consistent basis. Boston is 4-4 at TD Garden this postseason, and that comes after the team went 6-6 at home last postseason. To this point, the home-court advantage gifted to the Celtics after the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks were upset in the first round hasn’t presented an advantage at all. NBA analyst Charles Barkley and many others have acknowledged it.
But why?
“Uhh I don’t know,” Celtics star Jayson Tatum told reporters after Boston’s Game 1 loss to the Miami Heat, per CLNS Media, before taking a five-second pause to consider. “(Expletive), I don’t know. I don’t know why.
“You still got to play the game, you still got to make plays regardless if you’re at home or away,” Tatum continued. “The court is the same, one ball, three refs, two baskets. So I don’t have an exact answer why were .500 at home. We just got to be better.”
That topic wasn’t the only Tatum was puzzled by, though. After Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said Boston let go of the rope in its series-opening defeat, Tatum was asked if he could put his finger on the reasoning behind it. After all, it’s certainly not the first time the Green have played with their food and lacked the mentality that leads to playing a full 48-minute. Boston did it previously in its first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks, did so again against the Sixers and opened the series against the Heat doing the same. No team makes it more difficult on themselves than the Celtics, and Green Teamers surely are aware of it.
“Umm I don’t know why,” Tatum responded, after the C’s were outscored 46-25 in a game-altering third quarter. “I just know today, like I said, we gave up some transition baskets. They got in a rhythm, they were comfortable. We didn’t close out the shooters, we gave up some offensive rebounds. In recent games, I’d have to go back at watch, but tonight, that’s kind of what happened.”
The Celtics will have the opportunity to even the series, and improve to better than .500 at home, with Game 2 at TD Garden on Friday. Boston currently is a nine-point home favorite with tipoff set for 8:30 p.m. ET.
