Celtics focus on learning from loss
BOSTON — The Boston Celtics made an NBA Finals run that nobody saw coming, rising from a team that was three games under .500 in early January under a firsttime head coach to being within two victories of winning the franchise’s 18th championship.
After having those hopes dashed in the haze of three straight losses to the champion Golden State Warriors, Boston’s young core is vowing to use the pain as motivation heading into the offseason. While they didn’t win, the Celtics have established themselves as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
“The biggest message was learn from this, grow from it, take this experience and see there is another level to get to,” coach Ime Udoka said after Thursday night’s loss. “Just don’t come back the same as players, coaching staff. Let this fuel you throughout the offseason into next year.”
When Udoka took over the coaching reins from Brad Stevens this past offseason, the Celtics were a team in transition.
Stevens, it seemed, had gotten the Celtics as far as he could during eight seasons on the bench. He took Boston to three conference finals but failed to help its youthful core, led by budding All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, get over the hump.
Enter Udoka, who did just that in Year 1. He challenged the team and harnessed the experience of veteran pieces such as Marcus Smart and Al Horford to slowly mold a culture built on defense and unselfishness on offense.
It paid off in the second half of the season as the Celtics turned an 18-23 record into a 51-31 mark at season’s end, good enough to claim the East’s second seed. After a sweep of Brooklyn, followed by back-to-back seven-game wins over defending champion Milwaukee and top seed Miami, Boston seemed unstoppable.
The Celtics took an early 2-1 Finals lead on Golden State but ultimately couldn’t sidestep its propensity for selfinflicted mistakes against the Warriors.
The Celtics were 1-7 in the playoffs when committing 16 or more turnovers. They hit the figure in three of their four losses in the Finals.
Tatum was woefully inconsistent, averaging 22 points but shooting 44-for-120 (37%) from the field. He was 5-for-13 from the field with 12 points in the deciding Game 6 in Boston.
Worse, Tatum became the first player in NBA history with 100 turnovers in a single postseason.
However bitter, he said he’s embracing the lessons he learned.
“It’s hard. It’s hard getting to this point,” Tatum said. “It’s even harder getting over it, the hump, and win it. It’s been a long journey, a long process. That’s what I took from it: it’s tough. You got to take it up another level to do what we want to do.”
The good news for Boston is that their coach has experienced both extremes of the Finals. He was a first-year assistant under Gregg Popovich when San Antonio lost to Miami in the Finals in 2013, and there the following year when the Spurs beat the Heat to claim the title.
“We improved in a lot of areas but fell short of our ultimate goal,” Udoka said. “Some guys didn’t play their best. That’s going to motivate guys throughout the season. The message is, everybody come back better. Let’s not be satisfied. It’s not guaranteed you’re going to be here.”