The Boston Celtics have been one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference over the last half-decade but always ran into problems in the playoffs. The team had multiple playoff runs end at the hands of LeBron James when he was in Cleveland, and then they lost to various strong teams around the conference in the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, and Brooklyn Nets.
In 2022, the Celtics beat all 3 of those teams in the playoffs to make it to the Finals. However, they fell short of the Golden State Warriors. Celtics point guard Marcus Smart spoke to CLNS Media about their Finals run and the lessons he and the team took from that loss.
“You hear it all the time, it’s a lesson, but it’s tough when you’ve got to take the lesson the hard way,” Smart said. “We have to take the lesson the hard way. We learned a lot out of our experience and unfortunately, we had to lose to do that, but we now know what it takes to play, to be there, the stress it takes on you, mentally, physically, emotionally. You kind of figure when and when not to be too excited about it, how to play it and how to keep yourself calm. It was a lot of factors that we’ve learned individually and as a group from this … it’s tough to have to learn the hard way … it’s still fresh for us, so guys are really just trying to wait, but once we do start talking, we’ll get that out there, but right now we’re just giving ourselves a break.” (h/t CLNS Media)
Are The Boston Celtics Primed To Return To The NBA Finals?
The Celtics have kept their core together after not biting the bullet on a Kevin Durant trade, which bodes well for the team. Not only do they have the same supporting cast from last season that has more continuity together, but they also solved their biggest roster issue and added a playmaker in Malcolm Brogdon.
If the team can continue playing their intensive style under coach Ime Udoka, there is no reason for the Celtics to not make a deep run again. Considering the increasing competition in the East, Marcus Smart will be hoping that the lessons they learned in the 2022 NBA Finals can be carried over, so they can get another crack at the Larry O’Brien trophy in the Finals.
