Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens has regrets about how the season ended, but not many.
After his team lost Game 6 and their Eastern Conference Finals series to the Miami Heat, the Celtics coach was asked if he had any regrets about how the team’s season had come to an end.
Stevens admitted he did, though they weren’t all that revelatory for a team with the competitive drive to get within two wins of the NBA Finals.
“I would just say my regrets would be the outcomes, right? But my regrets [are] not what we put in, my regrets[are] not how we prepared or worked or how hard our guys worked or how committed they were to playing, [and] staying together.”
The Indiana native was clearly proud of his team despite the loss, after having had the discipline to get further than any but two teams in the entire league in the most difficult season in the history of the NBA, if not professional sports.
Celtics can’t take the Heat, wilt late in the fourth to fall 125-113 https://t.co/boWVu8byME
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 28, 2020
He did not let his players off the hook entirely, though.
“I think you look back at those first couple of games, and it put us in a tough spot,” shared Stevens, referring to Boston’s inability to hang onto to leads in the series.
Particularly in the first few games of the series when the Celtics easily could have taken a powerful lead had they merely held a lead a few minutes of game time longer.
“I just think that ultimately we had our chances and we didn’t take advantage of it enough, but the other team’s out there too. They deserve credit for taking advantage in every circumstance and again I thought their physical toughness, their physicality in general, their strength.”
“And those savvy veterans, they made great plays,” he added as he took care to credit the Heat, who ran one of the toughest gauntlets in the history of the league to reach the NBA Finals.
While we may not be excited at the Celtics Wire about the loss, we can wish Miami well in the Finals, lest we have to listen to Los Angeles Lakers fans everywhere rub it in they’ve drawn even in total title count.
Now that would be regretful.
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