TD Garden is typically empty around 2 a.m. The lights are down and, save for a few people still cleaning up, it’s typically a wonderfully zen setting to collect one’s postgame thoughts.
Instead, the party raged on. NBA staffers posed for pictures. Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole wandered the halls, still in uniform. The stench of cigar smoke-filled air, giving the arena more of a Foxwoods poker room feel than a professional sports venue.
Cigars smell sweet when you’re the one smoking them, but man do they stink when it’s coming from somewhere else.
The Celtics trudged through the haze, hearing the muffled sounds of celebration coming from just across the hall, as they limped into the Garden interview room one last time this season.
“They won and we lost. We did it to ourselves,” Jaylen Brown said. “I guess we've shown our immaturity at times, and it stings. Still a young group. Still got a lot to learn. Nothing to hang our head about. Tough day for Boston. Tough day for the Celtics.”
Losing is nothing new for this group. They’ve been through more ups and downs than Bitcoin this season. But after each low point along the way, they held their heads high, keeping short memories, and positive attitudes.
Which made it all the more jarring to see true pain and defeat in their eyes. Jayson Tatum is the king of moving on, often wearing a wry smile after even the toughest losses. He often proclaimed there's no changing the past, so all they could do is watch film and learn from it.
After this loss, he could barely look up from the podium.
“This is tough, getting to this point and not accomplishing what we wanted to. It hurts,” he said, speaking in a softer voice than usual. “We all could have done things better. I feel like I could have done a lot of things better. But, you know, like we said, we competed, we tried all season, all playoffs.”
Tomorrow will probably bring more wallowing for Tatum and the Celtics. No one likes spending six hours on a cross-country flight, but that's what the Celtics would rather be doing under these circumstances. Instead, they are planning flights to more tropical locations. If they want rings now, they're going to have to buy them on their own.
“It's going to hurt. It will hurt for a while. Probably that stuff never goes away,” Ime Udoka said. “That was part of the message. Let it propel us forward, the experience. Growth and progress that we made this season. Obviously, getting to your ultimate goal and fall a few games short is going to hurt. There are a lot of guys in there, very emotional right now. … Just don't come back the same as players, coaching staff. Let this fuel you throughout the offseason into next year.”
The Celtics finished the season on a three-game losing streak, the first such streak since December. It’s a testament to how far they truly came as a team, and also an indication of how far they have to go. The last few games showed Boston what championship-level basketball is all about.
“You can see, there's still a lot of growth and a lot of work for all of us,” said Al Horford, who tried his best to be a Game 6 hero. “The Warriors definitely were on a different level. It's something that we have to accept, and we all have to grow.”
Growth isn’t linear, though, and teams change a lot from season to season. Some of these guys will be gone when the season starts. Some might be moved mid-stream. The business of the game makes for all sorts of interesting twists between seasons.
“I always look at adversity as opportunities to shape an individual,” Brown said. “For whatever reason, it wasn't our time. That means we still got a lot to learn. Personally, I still got a lot to learn.
“For me, it's always about growth. Continuing to get better, continuing to find different ways to lead. That's what it's about. The future is bright. I'm excited to get back next year.”
As the early morning wore on in the Garden, San Francisco television stations did their live shots for the 11 PM west coast news. A few Warriors fans in a luxury box above section 111 belted out a bad sing-along of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” mumbling through the parts no one remembers but really nailing the “West Virginia” part.
This road took the Warriors to a place they belonged, on top of the NBA mountain once again. Boston wasn’t ready for the moment, and the punishment for that is months of what-ifs and surprisingly little time before they have to do it all again, and hopefully have a chance to atone for their mistakes a year from now.
“It's not guaranteed you're going to be here. The East is getting tougher every year,” Ime Udoka said. “They'll come back better.”