Even as they relish this chance to stare back at all the so-called doubters, the Celtics suddenly have a short-term — let’s call it luxurious — dilemma.
The biggest benefit of their four-game sweep of Brooklyn is time. They play the winner of Wednesday night’s game between the Bucks and Bulls; Milwaukee holds a 3-1 series edge. Let’s just say that 75% of the prep work deals with Milwaukee at this stage.
From everyone’s assorted aches to Rob Williams’ need to shake off some obvious rust, it will be time well spent.
“It’s huge. Obviously more time for Rob,” said Jayson Tatum. “And then myself, everybody, this was a very taxing four games. It took everything on both ends of the floor. So getting these five or six days off are going to be very beneficial for everybody.”
It was the third lowest collective margin of victory (14 points) by the winning team in a playoff sweep in NBA history. But by playing for the second seed, and asking for the first-round matchup no one else wanted, the Celtics have actually made themselves stronger.
But don’t call them the best. Marcus Smart doesn’t want to reach that goal until the very end.
“I definitely have seen the other series and, for me, I think that we are not the best team,” said the Celtics point guard. “We still have some ways to go. We still have work. And, you know, we don’t really get too high on the highs nor too low on the lows.
“So when I watch the game films, I’m watching it for we’re not the best team, you know, and we have to play like that. We have to have that mentality that we’re not the best team, because once you get that mentality that we’re not the best team, you start to get complacent and things start to kick in and bad habits, and we don’t want that.”
As evidenced by their late-game execution against a fourth-quarter Nets comeback — Kevin Durant, unlike some others, played like he wanted to force a Game 5 in Boston — may have finally broken most of those well-publicized “bad habits.”
“One game at a time. That’s all really my mindset is focused on,” said Jaylen Brown. “One game at a time, can’t get ahead of yourself. We’ve been here before. We’ve got a lot of guys that’s had some runs in the playoffs, so we know how things can change, Tremendously. At this point in time, we all know experience, depth and adjustments at this time of year. That’s what it all comes down to – and obviously execution. So for us to be able to do what we’ve done, it’s part of it. Like I said, you tip your hat off to Ime (Udoka) and this coaching staff for getting us ready.
“The mindset is key, coming in, being ready to play every single game,” he said. “Tonight was a closeout game, which is the hardest thing to win in basketball, especially against guys like that, all the pressure was on us. For us to finish and execute was big. That’s big for the confidence of our group, big for the mindset. I think that was fantastic.”
Their collective youth considered, the Celtics are also one of the most playoff-tested units in the field, with a tough four-game sweep of the Nets just another round of conditioning.
“At this point in time, we all know experience, depth and adjustments at this time of year,” said Smart. “That’s what it all comes down to – and obviously execution. So for us to be able to do what we’ve done, it’s part of it. Like I said, you tip your hat off to Ime and this coaching staff for getting us ready.”
