BOSTON — The Celtics shouldn’t really have needed much motivation in their Eastern Conference finals matchup with the Miami Heat.
After building a 2-1 lead in the 2022 NBA Finals and losing, it was thought that Boston would have plenty of motivation in 2023. The Celtics not only improved their roster prior to the bounce-back campaign, but they went through plenty of ups and downs during the regular season to prevent a possible laying-of-the-egg in the postseason.
That’s what everyone thought, anyway.
Boston then turned around and dropped two games at TD Garden, giving Miami a 2-0 series lead and necessitating a historic comeback if it wants to avenge the finals loss from one year ago. In the words of Jaylen Brown, winning the series from this point would make for a better story.
“Just got to come out fighting, play basketball,” Brown said of the Celtics’ plans moving forward following Game 2. “I think both of these two games they have been able to come out on top, but who is to say we can’t come out on top in the next two games? We just got to come ready to play basketball, can’t lose our confidence. It’s the first to four. It should make for a better story.
“… We have no choice. Shake it off. Obviously, we let two games here on our home court down, let our fan base down, let everybody down. But we got opportunities still in front of us. So, you look forward to it and you get up and you play basketball.”
There’s no doubt that coming back to defeat Jimmy Butler and the Heat would make for a great chapter in any potential championship DVD, but the Celtics have a long way to go before making that possible. Just like any other franchise would tell you, Boston is taking it one game at a time, which should start with improved play from Brown.
The All-NBA star has been a less-than ideal compliment to Jayson Tatum through two games, combining for 38 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists across 77 minutes — serving as a minus-21 when on the floor. The 26-year-old isn’t stepping down from the challenge, however.
“Be mature, be poised in those moments.” Brown said. “This is a veteran team. Like they are good at exposing your weaknesses, they’re good at feeding off of indecision. Continue to be aggressive and just continue to be yourself. It’s a challenge mentally, it’s a challenge physically, they’re disciplined. We just got to be — we got to overcome. We got to find a way to win one and then we go from there.”
