With Celtics Season on the Line, Ime Udoka Says It's 'business as usual' and Comes Down to Small Details

As tip-off for Game 6 of the NBA Finals approaches, Ime Udoka says it's "more so business as usual" rather than feeding into the Celtics' championship hopes being on the line.

"I'm not a big rah-rah guy as far as trying to ramp guys up. I think our guys are ready for the situation and know what it is. It always comes down to the small details, and that's what has lost us some leads in the last fourth quarters.

"And so, for us, we'll go out and handle it, and the urgency and understanding how they're going to come out and what we want to do with our home crowd as well and similarly to what they did in Golden State and obviously got off to a really good start and put some pressure on us, we'd like to do the same on our home court this time."

Having gone into Milwaukee, the home of the defending NBA champions, and won Game 6 of a second-round series, then prevailing in back-to-back Game 7s against the Bucks, then the Heat, the Celtics have been in this win-or-go-home situation before.

Pregame, Udoka shared why he believes his team is 3/3 in these situations.

"The adversity throughout the season and not losing a lot of games in a row. We haven't lost three in a row since December and two in a row throughout these whole playoffs until last game. And so for us, the bounce back ability to kind of put things behind us and address what we need to and focus in on the minute details and not look at the big picture but the small things that dictated the outcome of the game. And so for us, we do have a short memory, and that's worked well for us, put it behind us, and also being in these situations throughout the year where we had to battle back from a big hole early in the season, so all those things bode well for us."

Further Reading

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown Reflect on Personal and Team Growth Through Celtics' Playoff Run

Ime Udoka Addresses Potential Lineup, Rotation Changes for NBA Finals Game 6

Celtics Determined to Avoid Warriors Celebrating a Title on Their Home Floor: 'All the motivation in the world'

[Film Room] Keys to Celtics Getting Jayson Tatum Going in Game 5 of NBA Finals

[Film Room] In NBA Finals Game 3, Jaylen Brown Balanced Scoring and Facilitating, Showing How He Can Raise Celtics' Ceiling

Tony Parker Sizes Up the NBA Finals, Talks Ime Udoka and His Collaboration with MTN Dew LEGEND

The Anatomy of the Celtics' Fourth-Quarter Comeback in Game 1 of NBA Finals

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