Celtics Players Send Strong Message on Growth Since Losing the NBA Finals to Warriors

For the second time in three seasons, the Boston Celtics are headed back to the NBA Finals. Their 105-102 Game 4 win over the Indiana Pacers sealed an Eastern Conference Finals sweep on Monday.

This trip to the Finals feels far different than the one from two years ago did. Instead of having to battle it out in a grueling series that went the distance, the Cs are looking at a great deal of downtime between rounds.

Whether it's because the team itself is far stronger, or that the path to this point was a bit soft, Boston has been able to compete comfortably. They avoided having to play more than five games in any of their first three series.

Because of that, the break between rounds is something that they've grown accustomed to throughout this playoff run. Derrick White and his teammates have shown the ability to lock in after long stretches of no games.

“I mean, last time, we didn't really have much of a break," White told reporters Monday. "It was kind of, Game Seven and fly back to Boston, then fly to Golden State. So, it's gonna be a little different. But I feel like – every series we've had, we've had a little bit of a break in between so we understand what we need to do, and we're going to lock in, and we're going to do whatever it takes to get four more wins.”

Al Horford pointed to the team's quick turnaround before the 2022 Finals as well, saying that he feels as if this current group is in a far better spot before the series.

“I think the first Finals was very challenging," Horford said. "If you look at our route, that first-round series against Brooklyn; it was a hard-fought series even though that we swept them. And then, seven-game series against Milwaukee, the champs, took them to the limit and then right away, seven-game series against Miami. Literally, two, three days off having to play Golden State in the Finals. So, it was a lot for our group. It was very overwhelming. And, you know, I felt like we were trying to catch on the whole time there. And now, we’ve put ourselves in a position in the regular season to have home-court advantage, to be in this position. And with these series we’re taking advantage of the opportunities and playing them out the right way. So I feel like we’re more mature, obviously, and we’re in a better place.”

As for the team's stars, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they've been at the forefront of the tremendous amount of pressure that this group has faced since coming up short against the Golden State Warriors.

A large conglomerate of the national media talking heads have been quick to question the legitmacy of this edition of the Celtics because of the two guys leading the way.

All of that criticism comes while the team has been dominant, holding a 64-18 regular-season record and a 76-20 record if you want to include playoffs.

If you ask Brown, who won the Eastern Conference Finals MVP, this group is different and far more experienced than the one from two seasons ago.

“Yeah, I mean, we feel like we're a different team than we were last year and the year before that," Brown explained. "I know everybody wants to continue to kind of pigeon hole us to what's happened in the past, but we've had a different team every single year. Dfferent coaches. We've had like three coaches in the last five years, and still, people want to just make it seem like it's the same, it's the same, it's the same. Time has gone by, experience has been gained, and I think we are ready to put our best foot forward. “

His running mate, Tatum, had a far more diplomatic answer to the question, pointing at the achievement of even making it to this point.

“It’s special. Even though we’ve been there before, most of us have, you don’t take it for granted. It’s a hell of a team we just played. They made us earn every single game. We’re extremely grateful to move onto the Finals.”

Boston will continue their push for Banner 18 on June 6, when they host the winner of the Dallas Mavericks/Minnesota Timberwolves Western Conference Finals.