The last Finals, the best motivation for the Celtics
The Warriors host the Celtics the next night, for a rematch of the last Finals. But between the barely balanced champions (13 wins – 13 losses) and sky-high finalists (21 wins – 5 losses), there is currently a world of difference. Which can be explained precisely by the scenario of the final…
“For the past two years, they’ve kicked our ass both times we’ve been here (in the regular season) and we remember that”explained Jayson Tatum. “It’s fresh in our minds and we want a different result. Everyone in this locker room understands what we want to do. We know we have the best record, at 21-5. Then you have to decide to play every night the right way, to play hard on both sides of the floor. I wouldn’t say we’re mad. We had a lot of fun. »
If Jayson Tatum made sure that the Celtics were not motivated by the pain of losing in the last Finals, Jaylen Brown admitted for his part that this failure is a constant motivator.
“Every workout, every strength session, every physical session. If you see the shoes now they’re almost worn out”
“Failure at the climax, in the NBA Finals, nothing humbles you more”explained the full-back/winger. “There is nothing more humbling than losing in the most important moment of your career. When we started this season, we were all very modest. And I think it’s part of our nature now. By understanding this, we somehow cultivate this force that you mentioned… Because we play from our experiences, our sorrows, our failures. »
Ahead of the campaign, Jaylen Brown explained that he wore Game 6 Finals shoes all summer long…
“The shoes I wore in the last game of the season, I wore them in every training session this summer”he said. “Every workout, every strength session, every physical session. If you see the shoe now, it’s almost worn out. But just to remind me. »
For his part, Jayson Tatum seemed less guided than his teammate in the “fury” of the loss against the Warriors in June. Even though we also feel this failure, he who thinks only of the ultimate goal.
“The goal is always the same: to return to the final and pass this test. Even though we are having fun and are happy with our game, no one in this dressing room is happy or happy with our situation now. he concluded. “All this means nothing if we don’t hang a new banner. This is the ultimate goal. The way we play every night is a step in the right direction, and I’m proud of that. »
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | p.d | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Jayson Tatum | 25 | 36.6 | 48.0 | 36.5 | 86.3 | 1.1 | 7.1 | 8.2 | 4.1 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 30.5 |
| Jaylen Brown | 24 | 35.6 | 49.8 | 34.5 | 83.8 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 7.1 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 26.7 |
| Malcolm Brogdon | 21 | 23.1 | 50.0 | 49.4 | 85.7 | 1.0 | 3.1 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 14.0 |
| Marcus Smart | 23 | 32.8 | 45.2 | 34.7 | 76.7 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 7.6 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 11.7 |
| Derrick White | 26 | 25.9 | 46.3 | 42.7 | 89.6 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 10.6 |
| Al Horford | 20 | 31.6 | 53.7 | 46.6 | 62.5 | 1.0 | 5.3 | 6.3 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 10.2 |
| Grant Williams | 25 | 28.7 | 55.3 | 46.7 | 85.7 | 0.9 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 2.8 | 9.3 |
| Sam Hauser | 26 | 16.9 | 49.2 | 45.5 | 77.8 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 7.1 |
| Blake Griffin | 10 | 15.3 | 55.6 | 46.7 | 72.7 | 1.2 | 2.9 | 4.1 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.3 | 5.5 |
| Payton Pritchard | 15 | 12.0 | 41.1 | 36.6 | 70.0 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 5.5 |
| Luke Cornet | 21 | 13.7 | 71.0 | 33.3 | 93.8 | 1.2 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 5.0 |
| Mfiondu Kabengele | 1 | 8.3 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 |
| noah vonleh | 17 | 8.9 | 45.8 | 25.0 | 100.0 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 2.6 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 1.5 |
| JD Davison | 3 | 2.8 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
| justin jackson | 10 | 5.6 | 15.4 | 18.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.6 |
