Celtics looking within themselves
Motivation a quieter effort in the bubble
The Celtics, technically the home team Thursday night with a 2-0 series edge over the Raptors, in any other season would have had the Garden crowd to help them drive in another spike.
Motivation is a very different thing now, though. The Celtics were going to have to absorb Toronto’s desperation without an assist from the stands.
“If we don’t match it, we’ll lose. I don’t know what else to say,” Brad Stevens said prior to Game 3 in the Orlando bubble.
“Our guys know how good they are. You could ask that after every team loses or wins a playoff game,” said the Celtics coach. “That’s why the playoffs are so hard, because there’s a little bit more need to get a win, not only from the standpoint of getting one but also just feeling better. We know how hard they’re going to play, we saw that on full display the other night, and we need to play better than we did the other night if we want to have a chance to win. If we don’t play hard, we’ll get beat. That I can feel very comfortable saying.”
Stronger together
Stevens has fielded questions since his arrival in the bubble about how much last year’s World Cup fused the bond between Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown.
The bump from that effect is long gone.
“It really benefited us in our 10-1 start when we started out of the gate hot this year, but this is now a year ago,” said Stevens, pointing to a very different kind of bonding agent responsible for the Celtics’ current cohesion.
It has to do with stability, including Danny Ainge’s quiet approach to the trade deadline.
“One of the unique things about now in the NBA is our team started practice last September,” said Stevens. “All these guys together, no change. We didn’t do anything at the trade deadline, so we’re the same team. Everybody has been here the whole time. That’s the uniqueness of this situation, not just those four guys. There’s great continuity on every team right now because we’ve been together for so long.”
Three-for-all
The Raptors barely shot over 20% (21-for-80) from 3-point range over the first two games. And to hear Stevens talk about it, those percentages are likely to rise, regardless of how well the Celtics are currently guarding the 3-point line.
“We just try to close out as hard as we can, and try to be there on catches as much as we can, but it’s easier said than done,” he said. “I think they’ve missed a few open ones, but hopefully we’ve guarded hard enough that those open ones just don’t feel as comfortable as normal if you are there, but both teams are good at closing out, both teams are good at playing with great intensity at the close out. And still in this league, guys still make tough ones. But that’s all we’re trying to do. Obviously there’s some schemes and things that you try to be good at throughout the year because you know the value of the layup and the three.”
Catching a break
The Celtics dodged trouble when Rob Williams, who fell hard on his tailbone in Game 2, woke up without any ill effects. That should be considered progress for the second-year center, who up until his time in the bubble has had an injuryplagued start to his career.
“Nothing lasting,” Stevens said of the situation.