MIAMI — The Boston Celtics are a team of long-distance runners.
For years, Danny Ainge, former Celtics president, employed a consultant who identified the squads and “brain types” of free agents, under the assumption that certain personality traits made better players. Ainge and that system are gone, but the Celtics—whether through painstaking exploration, luck, or, more likely, a combination of both—have a collective personality type.
It was proved again Thursday night when they bounced back to a 127-102 Game 2 win over the Miami Heat to make the Eastern Conference Finals 1-1.
This was the fourth time this postseason — third on the road — that the Celtics responded to a loss with a win, beating teams by an average of 17.3 points in those games, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
That’s well on its way to being the fifth-highest margin of victory after an all-time loss in a single postseason, among teams that played in at least three such games. The four teams for the Celtics all won the title. (This season’s Miami team is sixth on the list.)
Since the end of January, when this team found its stride, Boston is now 10-1 after a loss. And the loss has an asterisk; it came one night when the Celtics rested their starters.
This particular group seems prone to this kind of resilience. It’s in his nature. Collectively, the Celtics are like a great marathon runner, whose mental acuity and trickery are often equal to or even greater than the physical gifts.
Their coach, Ime Udoka, has a down-to-earth attitude but has worked all season to instill confidence in his team. While he is not afraid to challenge or challenge his players, he does it without relying on emotion. Last week, when the Celtics appeared in serious danger in Milwaukee trailing 3-2 to defending champion Bucks – a team that had won eight consecutive close-out games – Udoka maintained modest confidence.
He believed, as it turned out, that his lagging Celtics were actually in a fine position and passed that on to his team, who responded by winning a massive Game 6 to tie the series. He did so again this week for Game 2, focusing on a handful of positives he identified from the Game 1 loss, including Boston winning three of the four quarters.
They won all four quarters on Thursday, the win aided by historic shootings. The last time the Celtics shot more than 50% of the field, 50% of a 3-point range and 90% of the foul line in a playoff game was in 1987. That Larry Bird/Kevin McHale-led team took six 3-pointers that night. In Game 2, the 2022 model lasted 40. Great shots made everyone look good, but the confidence Boston played with wasn’t just luck.
“We didn’t play as bad as the previous game showed,” Udoka said. “We saw a lot of positives and areas that we could attack.”
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the team’s two stars, are both very confident. Most NBA players are, but the Boston duo has the advantage of being evenly balanced.
Tatum, for example, had the same attitude after his 4-for-19 shooting in a disastrous Game 3 against the Bucks as he did when he scored 46 points to survive Game 6 of that series. After a poor second half in Game 1 against the Heat — he had six turnovers in the third quarter alone — Tatum started Game 2 with an explosive first half of 20 points.
“I think the sign of a good team is how you react after losses, especially the heavy ones,” Tatum said after finishing with 27 points. “It shows the character of the group.”
Brown had one of the worst playoff games of his career in the series opener against the Bucks, but followed that up by scoring 25 points in the first half of Game 2. He has been a consistent producer ever since, even started a routine of three hours before every tip coming on the field for extra work to work on his shooting.
Marcus Smart is a voracious competitor. More emotional than his laid-back teammates and head coach, he lets it define his game. He has played through injuries all through the postseason and in Game 2 he came back after missing the first game due to a sprained foot to score 24 points along with 12 assists against just one turnover, a vital difference after turnovers crushed the Celtics in Game 1 The reigning Defensive Player of the Year was also hot on Jimmy Butler, holding him down to just five shots in 37 games, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
To properly illustrate how Smart works, he started the game with just one of his first 10 shots. He then made seven of his last 10.
“I’m the youngest of four boys,” Smart said. “All my life I have to fight… you have no choice but to be tough.”
The same sounds up and down in the selection. Veteran great man Al Horford is Boston’s regular presence. Reserves Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard, both undersized and variously overlooked in their young careers, bring a mix of energy and ruthlessness. After a poor performance in Game 1, Williams had 19 points off the bench in Game 2. Pritchard, after being attacked by the Heat on offense in Game 1, scored 10 points and fought hard in defense, leading to a team -best plus- 39 version.
The Celtics are not the perfect team; they have weaknesses and have shown that they can be driven to the brink of elimination. But good luck getting four out of seven, which the Heat will now have to do with no home advantage to win the series.
The way this group is wired, it almost seems like they are embracing a loss. And when you understand their personalities, that logic starts to shine through.
“I think we just had a better presence about ourselves,” Tatum said. “They kicked us in the ass last” [game]and we just wanted to respond.”
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