Celtics' trip to Cleveland for Game 3 a reminder of how far they've come

Share

CLEVELAND – The irony of the Boston Celtics being back in Cleveland with a chance advance to the NBA Finals is not lost on the players. 

It is on this same Quicken Loans Arena floor where all the goals and dreams Boston had for this season, were seemingly dashed as Gordon Hayward lay on the floor with what was a season-ending ankle injury. 

“Nobody expected much from us at that point,” Celtics wing Jaylen Brown told NBC Sports Boston.

MORE - Celtics legend out of hospital, heads home

Boston would lose their next game at Milwaukee and yet as the NBA calendar flipped, so did the success of the franchise as they reeled off 16 straight wins. 

They continued to earn respect with impressive, comeback wins over some of the best teams in the NBA like Houston and Golden State. 

And for the first time since Hayward’s injury, they now find themselves back where it all started for the first time since that eventful night that forever changed their season in ways few – including themselves – expected. 

The latest task is finding a way to knock off LeBron James and the Cavs. 

Boston is off to a good start as they come into tonight’s game with a 2-0 series lead after posting double-digit wins in both Game 1 and 2. 

This is not the time to reminisce over what happened in the past, but the Celtics surely have made an exception for tonight’s game. 

Because without the adversity of having to play on without Hayward, there’s no telling if the Celtics would have in fact managed to use that pain as a source of pride and purpose that has them now just two wins away from a trip to the NBA Finals. 

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens hasn’t given much thought to that season-opening loss, other than watching clips from it as he prepared for this current series with the Cavs. 

“It has been a long year. A lot’s happened,” Stevens said. “Obviously, that was an emotional night.”

Celtics big man Al Horford acknowledged Hayward’s injury was indeed something he thought more about during this series, than he did at any point this season following the injury to Hayward. 

“That replays in my mind and then, that being the beginning of this journey for our group and the ups and downs, everything that we’ve been through,” Horford said.

As if losing Hayward wasn’t bad enough, the Celtics have been without leading scorer Kyrie Irving for the entire postseason after an infection was detected in his surgically repaired left knee. 

But rather than focus on who wasn’t around or the struggles that their young roster would likely endure, Stevens and the players were instead locked on steady improvement. 

And rather than learn from mistakes, Stevens placed a heavy emphasis on players learning from film and the team’s veterans like Horford, Aron Baynes and Marcus Morris. 

It worked. 

Boston finished with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, with contributions coming from several players, young and not-so-young.

Because so many hands contributed to the team’s success, Boston has become an extremely challenging foe for teams in the postseason. 

Unlike most teams, locking in on one or two players is usually enough to throw a team off rhythm. 

But the Celtics’ balanced attack has been able to move Boston from one series to the next, seemingly getting better in the process. 

Boston has four players averaging at least 17 points in the postseason, something no Celtics team has done since the 1987 squad that featured a quartet of future Hall of Famers in Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Dennis Johnson and Robert Parish. 

The current quartet of Celtics averaging at least 17 points includes the team’s top scorer Jayson Tatum (18.1) along with Jaylen Brown (17.8), Terry Rozier (17.4) and Al Horford (17.1).

And as well as they all have played, there’s no telling if they would be this impactful if not for Hayward’s unfortunate injury that forced Boston to re-adjust its approach to this season. 

“Yeah, it’s a lot of positive things in regards to the group once that happened,” Horford said. “We were able to regroup and get playing the right way.”

NBC SPORTS BOSTON SCHEDULE

Contact Us