The Celtics and their fans had all the reason in the world to be confident going into Boston’s first trek to the NBA Finals in over a decade.
Staring at them across the ring were the Warriors: The grizzled southpaw who, after a few years spent licking his wounds, scrapped back into a title-card bout — seeking to grasp onto championship immortality once again.
These may not have been those leviathan Dubs squads from 2017-19 when Kevin Durant put them into a different stratosphere. But still lethal all the same, especially with a cheat code like Steph Curry still serving as a primary conduit on offense.
But based on everything we saw from this Celtics team over the past two months — was any of that pre-series swagger misguided?
Everyone likes a newcomer in sports. The different voice. A new supporting cast poised to disrupt the status quo and topple the established giants. David doesn’t always beat Goliath — but it sure makes for a damn good story when it does.
And from April onward, this Celtics squad staked their claim as the next legitimate power in the East — especially given the opponents they toppled on their road to basketball’s highest stage.
The Nets? The Celtics exacted revenge against Kyrie Irving by way of a humiliating four-game sweep.
Jayson Tatum’s spinning, last-second layup in Game 1 against Brooklyn served as the first flickering spark of hope that perhaps this young roster’s second-half surge from January onward was not a fluke — and that a memorable ride was on the horizon. By the end of that first-round series, it appeared as though Tatum had finally arrived — especially after out-dueling Kevin Durant.
The Bucks? Even with Giannis Antetokounmpo shearing through the C’s interior defense like a UHaul’s payload colliding with a Storrow Drive underpass, Boston managed to hold off the defending champs — withstanding a 3-2 series deficit and triumphing in a Game 7 blowout on the parquet floor.
The Heat? In a scrappy, barfight of a seven-game bout (a given for any team anchored by a player like Jimmy Butler), the Celtics landed the last punch — somehow withstanding a Game 6 masterclass from Butler before taking care of business down in South Beach.
All different challenges. All with the same result — with an upstart promising Celtics roster doling out vengeance and rewriting narratives at every step of their playoff quest.
So yes, the Celtics had every reason to be confident in their primetime battle against a battle-hardened Golden State roster.
But confidence doesn’t translate to invincibility. And, as we saw over a month ago down in North Carolina — storybook endings are so cherished in sports because … well, they don’t come around all that often.
Because for as much as Boston’s latest trip to the NBA Finals was mapped out as an unexpected coronation of a Celtics team that FINALLY appeared to have put it all together — Curry and the Dubs showed them (and the rest of the NBA) the sizable gap that still must be cleared before even the most talented young teams can seize greatness (and some tangible hardware).
“The Warriors definitely were on a different level,” Al Horford said. “It's something that we have to accept, and we all have to grow.”
In some respects, Thursday’s clinching Game 6 defeat stood as the microcosm of the C’s inability to overcome a Dubs team that has been around the block more than once.
With their backs against the wall and a painful summer on the horizon, the Celtics delivered a right hook to the Dubs — dropping them to the mat by way of a 14-2 start. But rather than lay down, the Warriors got right back up and delivered a flurry of blows that put Boston on the ropes, and eventually spelled their doom.
After scoring 14 points in the first 3:57 of the first quarter, Boston scored just eight points for the remainder of the opening frame. Golden State, seeing the fatigue begin to sap away the strength in Boston’s legs, uncorked a 21-0 run at one point — turning what was a 22-16 deficit at one point into a 37-22 advantage by the opening minutes of the second.
By the time the final seconds mercifully ticked off the clock to signal halftime, the Warriors were in front, 54-39.
For the Celtics, it was a season-ending turn of events. For Golden State, it was just business as usual.
Of course, the framework of Boston’s failure was laid way before the C’s coughed up 23 turnovers in a series-deciding contest on their home court on Thursday.
The Celtics can look back to Game 4 — when a 3-1 series edge was just 7:32 away before choking away a six-point lead by way of a bevy of bricked shots from deep.
They can look back to Game 5 — in which Boston just couldn’t get out of its own way and go for the jugular on a night where Curry failed to sink any of his nine attempts from three-point range.
Those missed opportunities rolled into a perfect storm of misery on Thursday night, with those careless turnovers, a no-show from Boston’s bench and an expected heater from Curry (six 3-pointers, 34 points) ensuring that the Celtics not going to emerge unscathed after letting Golden State off the hook on Monday.
“Obviously, guys didn't play their best and our bench the last few games struggled,” Ime Udoka said. “They've been consistent all year. I don't really look at it like we didn't have enough. Our guys didn't play their best, honestly. Credit Golden State for that. They had a huge part in that. Very consistent team on the defensive end. When you look at them across the board, they have one, maybe two defensive-minded guys with Green and Payton. Everyone else is solid and consistent. Really good team defense in general.
“Don't feel like we didn't have enough. Just felt like we played probably our worst series of these playoffs. If we play up to the standard of Milwaukee or the Miami series, it's obviously a different ballgame, especially in those Game 4 and 5 when we struggled in the fourth quarter.”
There should still be plenty of optimism surrounding this Celtics team.
Sure you can chalk up this six-game result as just a massive blown opportunity for a Celtics team that seemed poised to supplant the rest of the established order in the league.
Or maybe, just maybe, you just have to tip your cap to this Warriors team — a team that executed in crunch time, took care of the ball, had a deeper supporting cast, received an otherworldly performance from their No. 1 option ... and went for the throat when the opportunity presented itself.
The Celtics are on their way to the top of the NBA, no doubt.
But as they showcased in triumphs over other up-and-coming squads like Denver, Memphis and Dallas this postseason — Golden State isn’t ready to let go of the crown quite yet.
And they’ve got a hell of a lot more than just confidence to back that swagger up.
“God is great, the ability to be on this stage and play with amazing teammates against a great Boston Celtics team that gave us everything to try to get to the finish line,” Curry, the Finals MVP said. “This one hits different for sure.
“Just knowing what the last three years have meant, what it's been like from injuries to changing of the guard in the rosters, Wiggs coming through, our young guys carrying the belief that we could get back to this stage and win, even if it didn't make sense to anybody when we said it, all that stuff matters. And now we got four championships. Me, Dray, Klay, and Andre, we finally got that bad boy. It's special. It's special. Just all the work that went into it, the faith and belief and everybody in that locker room that's getting to spray champagne around the locker room, everybody mattered in that process. So I'm just proud of everybody.”