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WALTHAM, Mass. – The Boston Celtics lost some momentum in their first-round playoff series against the Bucks this past weekend, dropping Games 3 and 4 in Milwaukee to erase what was once a 2-0 series lead. With that being said, the C’s remain collectively confident heading into Game 5 Tuesday night, because they believe that returning to their home arena could help swing the series back into their favor.
“Playing in front of your home crowd, they can be the best sixth man in the league,” Celtics wing Jaylen Brown explained Monday afternoon following practice at the team’s training facility. “Especially being in Boston.”
The strong fan-support at TD Garden seemed to strengthen the C’s tenacity early in the series as they rode the cheers of Celtics Nation to two wins out of the gate.
Unfortunately, the Bucks experienced the same type of morale-booster from their fan base when they returned home for Games 3 and 4, which helped them turn the tide of the series.
“When you’re playing in front of their crowd, they probably feel the same way,” said Brown. “When we came out to their intensity, their crowd can kind of affect the game and things like that, especially as a group that hasn’t been playing together for an extensive amount of time, just for this year and with our injuries and stuff. So, it definitely had an effect.”
Experiencing his first career postseason, Jayson Tatum is starting to understand that effect. He was lifted up by the positive energy at TD Garden, and then had to grind through the negative energy at BMO Harris Bradley Center.
“I’m comfortable whether we’re away or home, but I’d much rather play at home with our fans and our crowd,” said Tatum, who actually averaged more points in Milwaukee (17.5 PPG) than he did in Boston (11.5 PPG). “But I mean, you can’t make that excuse of whether you can win on the road. You should be able to win either way.”
Brown agrees that location shouldn’t have to play a role in determining the result, but at the same time, he’s happy that he’ll have the home crowd in his ear for Game 5.
“Just comfortability-wise, you’re walking into somebody else’s house and trying to feel comfortable and it’s just a little bit different,” said Brown. “But as a unit, good basketball teams are good basketball teams, whether you’re playing in TD Garden or whether you’re playing in Alaska. So, we’ve gotta come out and do what we’re supposed to do – execute the game plan. We didn’t do a good job of owning our own space (during Games 3 and 4), but we’ve been owning our own space the whole year, so now it’s just a matter of doing it. We have to do it or else we’re going to go home. Now it’s our backs against the wall, and we’ve got to come out swinging.”
If the Celtics can win Game 5 at home, Brown is confident that they can go back on the road and grab Game 6 to clinch the series. After watching Boston nearly storm back from a 20-point deficit in Game 4, he believes that the team is getting used to facing different postseason environments and will be able to handle the rising pressure as the series wears on.
“The intensity level of the game raised from Game 1, to Game 2, to Game 3, to Game 4,” said Brown. “We talked about expecting that, but it’s different when you actually get to see it on a road game in the Playoffs. It’s a lot different, but I think we’re now accustomed to it and we’re ready to fight.”