Celtics look to close out Heat
Tatum wants Boston to keep underdog mentality
Jayson Tatum wants experience to be the Celtics’ guide as they return home with a chance to wrap up their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2010.
Tatum was a rookie during Boston’s run to the Eastern Conference finals in 2018, when it grabbed a 3-2 series lead over Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He also remembers what it felt like as the Celtics watched James unravel their dreams with a 46point performance in the Cavaliers’ Game 6 win, followed by a 35-point effort in Cleveland’s Game 7 victory at TD Garden.
Boston again has a 3-2 conference finals lead, this time over the top-seeded Miami Heat with Game 6 set for Friday. Tatum said this feels different. “I’m a lot better. (Jaylen Brown) is. We’re just older. And we’ve been through those tough times,” Tatum said. “But the mindset and the talk that we had after the game was we were down 3-2 last time (in semifinals vs. Bucks) and had to go on the road to win Game 6 and we did. So we can’t think that it’s over with.”
Tatum wants to see Boston maintain the mentality of the underdog.
“We need to go back home like we’re down 3-2. With that sense of urgency that it’s a must-win game,” he said. “Not relaxing because we’re up. … The job’s just not finished yet.”
The Celtics do seem to be facing a Heat team that over the past two games hasn’t come close to resembling the one that won Games 1 and 3.
Jimmy Butler insists he’s fine but appears to be at least slowed by the right knee inflammation that sidelined him for the second half of Miami’s Game 3 win.
Warriors 120, Mavericks 110: Klay Thompson shimmied his way to 32 points and Golden State advanced to its sixth NBA Finals in the past eight seasons by beating Dallas in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals. Thompson scored 19 points in the first half, including a 3-pointer that he punctuated with teammate Stephen Curry’s signature shake as the Warriors raced out to a 17-point halftime lead and coasted the
rest of the way. Andrew Wiggins added 18 points and 10 rebounds, Draymond Green scored 17 points and Curry had 15 points and nine assists for Golden State.
Pelicans: Forward Zion Williamson has been cleared to play this offseason without any restrictions after recent imaging on the fifth metatarsal in his right foot showed continued improvement.