Marcus Smart Opens up About Finals Loss to Warriors

After battling their way through the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Boston Celtics were overmatched in the NBA Finals by Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. In a recent interview with CLNS Media, Celtics guard Marcus Smart opened up about the tough loss.
"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," Smart said. "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."
Losing is always difficult, but losing in the NBA Finals after a hard fought battle to get there is certainly hard to swallow. For Smart and the Celtics, they have learned a lot from their deep run, and will look to build upon it this season. For the Warriors, they also learned a lot, and will look to run it back.
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Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA and WNBA for On SI. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined On SI to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts and in the classroom earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time, primarily serving as a Clippers beat writer.
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