How should the Boston Celtics be treating Game 5 of their East Finals series against the Miami Heat, in which they now trail 3-1 in the best-of-seven series?
“You want to play every possession like it’s the last possession of the game,” suggested Celtics head coach Brad Stevens at the team’s pregame presser when asked if the team should be playing with an air of desperation.
“You want to play with great focus on hitting singles on those possessions and at the same time, missing a shot at the early part of the game isn’t going to make or break the game, so you also have to play competently. You also have to play assertively and aggressive.”
“You can’t play timid, and so I think that there’s a fine line,” he added.
Whether Boston was playing timid, tired, or just terrible in Game 4, if it happens again, it will be the end of their season. But as he typically does, Stevens instead focused on the positive side of the coin.
WATCH: for the Celtics, the fight continues no matter Game 5’s outcome https://t.co/C0HIZEDxIt
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 25, 2020
“Our thing this whole entire experience has been competing with great intentions, and and do your best to stay in the moment and play as well as we can,” he explained.
“We’ve had really good moments, playing all the way up to this point, including in this series. We haven’t had enough of them when it’s mattered most, and I think that that’s where we have to be even more locked in and taking advantage of every possession.”
Do the Celtics have what it takes to force a Game 6?
We’ll soon find out, with tip-off slated for 8:30 pm Eastern Time.
[jwplayer tsv9Lkwj]
[lawrence-related id=42104,42101,42096,42084]