“Don’t worry about them, let them worry about you.” - John Wooden
The Boston Celtics walked out of FedExForum in Memphis owners of the Eastern Conference second seed, having chosen to play their regular starters against a Grizzlies team sending out their G Leaguers.
The Milwaukee Bucks could have given themselves a chance at it, but they chose otherwise. The Philadelphia 76ers could have tried harder over the past few weeks, but they seemed to be happy to drop a couple of slots.
Boston?
“We’re not trying to dodge anybody, we believe in ourselves,” Payton Pritchard said after the game. “Go in and whoever we play, we’re going to be ready.”
The mood after game 82 could not have been more opposite than the collective mood of this team prior to its January 180.
“I don’t know if mid-January we could have predicted this was a possibility, so we would have settled for like, ‘Man, we’ve just got to make sure we get to 6, 5’ type thing,” Al Horford said. “To be in this position, it’s a testament to our group really locking in, understanding how we needed to play to get to this point, and playing in Boston, it’s big. And we know that, and that’s why I’m excited about it.”
The bowed heads and promises to be better are barely whispers in the wind at this point. These Boston Celtics are here to eat the food off your plate, steal your dates, and make you thank them for it.
“We're not worried about the other teams or any of that,” Ime Udoka said. “We've done what we've done. We'll let other teams use their own strategy, and we'll just try to be the best we can, go against whoever, and we're ready for that."
“Whoever” is very likely the Brooklyn Nets. The mere mention of that team starts knees quivering. It’s a wonder anyone can even ask whether this was the proper strategy through their chattering teeth and nerve-shaken hands. It’s almost as if the Nets are the team with a net rating nipping at the heels of the Phoenix Suns, the ninth-best offense, and the top-ranked defense this season.
“We’ve done what we’ve done over this stretch and that’s not a fluke, obviously, to play at this high of a level,” Udoka said. “The consistency that we’ve shown playing against really tough competition in March and April, kind of battle-tested as far as that. Feel good about where our new guys as well, adding them to the mix. Now we’ve got to take care of business.”
None of this is meant to be dismissive of the Nets. It’s obvious Kevin Durant makes them formidable. Kyrie Irving is capable of great things. The Celtics will, and should, give their opponents the proper amount of respect due to a playoff opponent that includes one of the greatest players of all time.
But also, Boston isn’t running scared. Udoka and his staff made this decision to go for the second seed, and in doing so, they're sending the team a clear message.
Don’t worry about them. Let them worry about you.
“We’re really confident,” Pritchard said “I think we believe in ourselves and we only have one goal in mind. Obviously it starts one playoff series at a time, but we’re ready.”
Who knows, maybe it’ll be the Cleveland Cavaliers who pull a play-in upset. And if they do, the Milwaukee Bucks might feel a little shame that they gave up home court in the second round for nothing. The Philadelphia 76ers might feel a little silly having dropped to fourth only to now face the Toronto Raptors in a series that will require a key player, Matisse Thybulle, to sit out road games because he’s unvaccinated instead of an inexperienced Cavaliers team.
Maybe the basketball gods will smile on the Celtics for their proper attitudes by giving them a gift like that, while simultaneously cracking eggs on the faces of their East competition. It might be delicious comeuppance in our eyes, but if it doesn’t happen, so be it.
Boston has made its decision and the team stands by it. They will take the floor at the TD Garden next weekend and another team will be on the floor with them. Whichever team that is is whichever team wins Tuesday night and Boston will be ready.
As far as they're concerned, they’ve sent a pretty strong message to the rest of the conference.
Boston isn’t worried about you. You should be worried about Boston.
"I think it's pretty clear, Horford said. “We obviously understand what's ahead, but it's about us and putting ourselves in the best position that we feel like we can be. And we're ready man. We're ready to go."
