John Tomase

Tomase: If we know these Celtics, Game 7 is about to be excruciating

Share

I've finally figured out the Celtics. They're trying to kill us.

They've somehow turned the NBA playoffs into the NHL playoffs. Every deficit feels insurmountable. Every second feels interminable. Every emotional swing lops another hour off our lives.

You may have hoped for a relatively tame playoff thrill ride like the Flume at Canobie Lake that only mildly engages the adrenal glands, but you're getting the Cyclone on Coney Island -- all wooden and rickety and terrifying and PLEASE GOD I DON'T WANNA DIE.

Celtics Talk POSTGAME POD: Celtics survive Game 6 in Philly; force Game 7 | Listen & Subscribe

This is just how it's going to be, and the sooner we accept it, the more proactive we can be about controlling our breathing and maybe stockpiling nitroglycerine tablets to treat that looming angina attack.

You don't need me to tell you that Sunday's Game 7 vs. the Sixers is going to be torture. It's the only way the Celtics know. They pulled out Thursday's Game 6 in exactly the way you would never, ever draw up, blowing a 16-point lead, letting MVP Joel Embiid run wild, and then belatedly welcoming Jayson Tatum's arrival in the final four minutes after a 1-for-14 start that might've otherwise haunted him for the rest of his career.

Eddie House has great reaction to Tatum's incredible Game 6 finish

For three and a half quarters, the game unfolded like a slow-motion disaster, the kind you experience in a nightmare that lasts forever while you're stuck in the same stairwell as it fills with water and the lights flicker and was that hiss a crocodile or the Predator?

But then Tatum delivered 16 scintillating points in the fourth quarter, splashing four 3-pointers in the final four minutes alone to remind everyone of how unstoppable the Celtics can be when they feel like it.

"I don't want to do this (bleep) again," Tatum said of his cold start followed by the garrison finish, and on that point we can all agree.

There is the easy way, and there is the Celtics way. The easy way is letting your superior depth and skill overwhelm the opponent, with suffocating defense locking down one end and pristine ball movement leading to open shots on the other. If possessions ever stagnate, one of your two All-NBA players can make something out of nothing. This is what we watched for the first 25 games of the season, and it was breathtaking.

Then there is the Celtics way. This involves showing spurts of dominance on both ends, but otherwise constantly searching for demotivators. Elimination isn't at stake? Can't really get up for it. The opponent's best player is sidelined? We let our guard down. Raced to too big of an early lead? There's no harm in coasting a little.

They're exhausting and exhilarating, and rarely are the stakes ever high enough to merit their best effort. It's why they blew the No. 1 seed during the regular season, needed a sixth game to dispatch the forgettable Hawks in Round 1, and are returning to Boston for Game 7 vs. a Sixers team that they've dominated for, oh, the last 40 years.

For all the greatness of Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they're still capable of perplexing lapses. Had Thursday night ended just a little differently, we'd be dissecting Brown's unforced turnover 25 feet from the hoop with his back turned that led to Tatum's lazy take foul and gave Philly the lead with six minutes left.

Imagine the brutal conversations we'd be having this summer: Can Tatum lead a team to a title? Is Joe Mazzulla the right coach for the job? Does Brown deserve a supermax extension? Is it time to take a sledgehammer to the core and trade Marcus Smart? But Tatum roared to life, the Celtics found a little of that 2022 resilience, and here we are.

So buckle up, grab the prayer beads and cold compress, and prepare for three hours of migraines, euphoria, despondency, hope, rage, and joy.

Game 7 on Sunday is sure to be excruciating. When it's over, hopefully the Celtics are still standing, and you are, too.

Contact Us