The Boston Celtics press room this Sunday at the Kaseya Center after the 0-3 loss against the Miami Heat had a farewell atmosphere, as if it were something more than a defeat. “The reality is, it’s embarrassing,” Jaylen Brown said.
“Personally, I think that before the game we had the mentality to face a match like that. Sometimes things don’t go as planned. It has been very hard for us, there is no doubt. We have to be able to respond. We are not dead yet”, assured the Dominican Al Horford.
Brown was slow to respond, took a breath and took a few seconds before starting.
“I don’t know where to start. It’s collective, we can point to whoever you wants but the reality is that it is embarrassing”, responded forcefully.
Jayson Tatum, the Boston star, acknowledged: “We are in a difficult position, we have to be proud and recover. This night was hard. From the beginning we lost balls, we missed shots, I missed a lot, and they moved the ball very well. We didn’t play well.”
There is one pointed out by public opinion, coach Joe Mazzulla, who had no problem putting himself as the main person in charge.
“I just didn’t have them ready to play. I did an output adjustment and it didn’t work, it’s my responsibility. Starting with me, we have to be better. The most important thing now is to be together”, commented the coach.
However, the seniority of Horford did not let the full weight of the defeat fall on Mazzulla: “The coach is being very generous. We know what we have to do, we know the dimension of this game. And as a player I assume my responsibility because we didn’t have what we had to have”.
Each of the Celtics’ protagonists highlighted the great role of Miami.
“We are playing against a great team. We are also a great team, but they have the mentality and we don’t. We have to bring her back,” Mazzulla said.
Horford seconded it: “You have to give credit to Miami, they are playing very well, with a good rhythm, they have a well-defined plan. I feel that the first two games we were good and today it got out of hand”.
“I don’t think we underestimated them. We know how they play, they played very well tonight. We are not surprised by the pace at which they play,” Tatum said.
And Brown pointed out individualities: “You have to respect Vincent, Strus, Robinson … they have the team under control.”
“I’m not sure when we’ve disconnected. We have to get out of there and play basketball with a different mentality, put what we have worked on into action, be proud of it, ”he added.
“We’ve let it get to us,” Horford said in a similar vein.
“For some reason we have lost our defense. We have to concentrate, know who we are.
In my view we were the best team all year, we have a good team, we are going through adversity. There are many who do not want to hear this, perhaps they end the series but the games must be played, ”he added.
JOY WITHOUT EUPHORIA IN THE HEAT
A few feet away, in the Heat press room, the scene was the opposite even if they didn’t want to celebrate yet.
“We still have to finish this,” warned Erik Spoelstra.
“We were able to impose our conditions in the game and maintain it in the first part and the third quarter”, the local coach proudly commented.
The NBA Finals are one win away for the Heat, and that may come as a surprise to everyone but Bam Adebayo.
“All those ups and downs prepared us for this moment. We still have a great chance to go further in the playoffs. I don’t think it’s a surprise, ”she argued.
Finally, the best of the night, Gabe Vincent, remembered what Miami’s goal is.
“We just want to win, our goal has never changed. Ups and downs or not, year after year, the Miami Heat are competing for the title and this year is no different,” he explained.