The Boston Celtics have their backs against the wall of the NBA bubble, but they’re not ready to burst out just yet.
After dropping Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals Wednesday night and falling into a 3-1 series deficit against the Miami Heat, the C’s know that they cannot afford to take another step back, so they’re just looking to move forward inch-by-inch in order to keep their season from popping.
“We just gotta win one game at a time,” Jayson Tatum said following his team’s 112-109 Game 4 loss. “Don’t gotta win a series next game. We just gotta give it all we got. It’s win or go home from here on out, so that’s the approach we’ve got to take.”
The Celtics will need to come out with the same type of urgency that they displayed during Saturday night’s 117-106 Game 3 win, which they led from start to finish. Unfortunately, they were unable to carry over such urgency into Wednesday, as Miami got out to a hot start and led for the majority of Game 4.
“I just don’t think we attacked enough,” said Kemba Walker, who tallied 20 points, five assists and four rebounds. “I don’t think we were aggressive enough. We weren’t as aggressive as last game, so we have to get back to that.”
Jaylen Brown said that the team not only has to be aggressive on the offensive end, but on the defensive side of the ball, as well. He noted how once Miami’s shooters got comfortable early on, it was difficult to break their confidence, particularly that of 20-year-old rookie Tyler Herro who scored a career-high 37 points.
“The good thing is we have another chance and an opportunity to keep playing,” said Brown. “I believe I’m a fighter to the end. That’s how a lot of our guys' minds are wired, so we just have to come out and take it one game at a time.”
Walker’s mind is certainly wired in such a way, especially now that he has finally gotten to taste postseason success for the first time in his eight-year NBA career.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to find a way,” said the All-Star point guard. “We can do it. It’s about pride, it’s about wanting to do it, and next game we’ve got to come out and show that.”
However, only a handful of teams – 13 out of 257 to be exact – have ever shown such resolve when facing a 3-1 series deficit. Those historical odds don’t mean much to C’s coach Brad Stevens, though, as he and his team are only focused on the current moment.
“It doesn't really matter,” Stevens said. “The situation we are in, we’ve got to play well Friday. We don't have to win three games on Friday. We have to win one. That's going to be our focus, that's going to be our attention, and we'll get after it.”
Brown won’t let the historical data get to his head, either, and he shouldn’t. After all, the Celtics have beaten Miami three times during the 2019-20 Season, so there’s no reason to believe that they can’t beat them three times more.
“We still have opportunities, we still have a chance,” Brown iterated. “I believe in the team. We’re down 3-1, but I believe that we can still come back and win. We all have to believe it. We all have to come out and play like it starting today, starting now, starting next game.”
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