The Celtics eked out a win with enough room to breathe, but just barely. They took a 3-1 lead and head back to Bean Town with an opportunity of closing out on their home court.
This is a must win for the Cavaliers, which makes it a must win for the Celtics.
What the Celtics don’t want to do — lose at home to the Cavaliers and send them back to Cleveland with momentum.
Sure, the odds of the Celtics losing three in a row is highly unlikely. But right now, any loss shows the Celtics’ vulnerability buried beneath their league-leading record. The one-two punch of their top 2 offense and defense should dominate, yet it appears the right team could figure out their weakness in a seven-game series.
The Boston Celtics may be more akin to the crucial flaw of the thermal exhaust port of the Death Star that eventually led to its demise — a small, hard to locate weakness that can trigger a chain reaction in the Celtics game plan. While it could happen, the talent required to dismantle it would be quite selective.
There may not there be enough uninjured teams left to make it to the Finals, but someone will assuredly materialize limping into the spotlight.
Here’s the bigger question — if the Celtics don’t win the title, will they even consider, just for a brief moment, blowing it up?
Or will they blame failure on the injury to Kristaps Porzingis and give themselves another year?
I know the idea of the best team in the league blowing it up when their two best players are on contract for the next half-decade is ludicrous, but keep in mind, the Celtics have been to the Eastern Conference Finals in five of the last seven seasons. They’ve been to the Finals once, and the Celtics have not won an NBA Championship since Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce ruled the hardwood.
At some point, you read the writing on the wall.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think this is Boston’s year, but not, as I originally believed they were unbeatable, but because there might simply be no one else healthy enough to beat them.
Welcome to The Thread. Join in the conversation, start your own discussion, and share your thoughts. This is the Spurs community, your Spurs community. Thanks for being here.
Our community guidelines apply which should remind everyone to be cool, avoid personal attacks, do not troll and watch the language.
