The Celtics didn't succumb to the pressure of a win-or-go-home situation Tuesday evening in Miami.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
Boston played free and loose in a season-saving win in Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals. Joe Mazzulla's group looked like the team many predicted to win the championship at the outset of the 2023 playoffs. For Celtics fans, it probably was a bit maddening to wonder why Boston didn't bring that same effort level and execution to the first three games against the Heat.
But maybe the C's needed the pressure to make diamonds. Although Boston surely would love to be only one win away from the NBA Finals, Jayson Tatum believes the threat of elimination might not be the worst thing in the world for the C's.
"I was talking to Jayson Tatum and he said it was almost like the pressure was off them," ESPN's Ramona Shelburne said Wednesday on "NBA Today." "Like, everybody relaxed because they were down 0-3 and everybody thought they were going to lose. They had this big golf outing, Al Horford organized it. He (Tatum) said when they first showed up, it wasn't that fun. But then when they left they said, 'This was good to do something as a team other than basketball.' This is a team that's been good when they're not supposed to be good, right? When they're down nine, they're great, they're loose. They're not so good as a frontrunner, but when they get down, they generally tend to relax. ... They're still down 3-1. I asked him (Tatum), 'Do you guys actually believe you can come back?' He goes, 'We really believe. I'm not faking it. We really believe that we can come back.'"
The Celtics certainly gained momentum from their Game 4 win, but a victory Thursday night might completely turn the tides in the series. Boston will try to push the pressure onto Miami's side in Game 5 at TD Garden.
