BOSTON – A season of surprises has finally come to an end for the Boston Celtics
following their 135-102 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers Thursday night.
Before you dwell on Boston’s elimination from the postseason, do yourself a
favor: think back to Sept. 26, when this team came together for the very first
time. What did you expect of it on that day?
Be realistic.
Did you expect the No. 1 seed in the East?
Did you expect a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals?
Did you expect Kelly Olynyk to become a Game-7 legend?
Did you expect Isaiah Thomas to score 53… in a playoff game?
Did you expect Thomas to win the Eastern Conference scoring title?
Did you expect the Celtics to beat the defending champs in a playoff game,
without Thomas?
Did you expect the Celtics to be one of the final three teams remaining in the
NBA Playoffs?
You probably hoped for all of those things, but you expected none of them.
“As a group,” Marcus Smart said, “we did what most didn’t think we could do.”
Not many believed that the Celtics would reach the heights that they did because
the team, in large part, was constructed of a bunch of players who have been
overlooked for their entire lives.
Thomas? He was the 60th pick in his draft class, and he wouldn’t be able to
improve upon his 2015-16 All-Star season. Jae Crowder? He was selected 34th.
Olynyk lacks athleticism. Smart can’t shoot. Jonas Jerebko and Amir Johnson were
cast-offs. Boston should have traded the No. 3 pick instead of drafting Jaylen
Brown.
Really, the only established players who had been respected throughout their
careers were Avery Bradley and newcomer Al Horford.
The doubters rang loudly throughout the entire season, beginning when the
Celtics opened up with a 13-12 record, and growing even louder when they dropped
their first two games of the postseason to the eighth-seeded Chicago Bulls.
Boston was the worst No. 1 seed in the history of the league, they said a little
more than a month ago. Yeah? How did that comment work out?
The worst No. 1 seed in history, apparently, was good enough to make it to the
Conference Finals and earn the respect of the defending champions while playing
without their lone All-Star in Thomas.
“They’re coming out and they’re hitting us,” Kyrie Irving of the Cavs said
Thursday night, “and they don’t care who you are.”
That’s a satisfying lasting impression to have left upon the defending NBA
champions.
“I’m proud,” Horford said of his team. “I’m proud of our group, and I felt like
we grew as the year went on.
“I felt like we came a long ways from the beginning of the year. We came
together, and that was fun to be a part of.”
The Celtics bonded because they believed when no one else did. In the process,
they earned plenty of believers along the way. The Cavs are the latest evidence
of the bunch.
As much as the Celtics will think so in the coming days, this season was not a
failure. No, this was a success.
Inside the locker room, as always, it was championship or bust for Boston. But
on the outside, this was only supposed to be a solid team that would compete for
a top-four seed.
The Celtics went well beyond that by securing the top seed in the East and
advancing to the Conference Finals, all while logging many memorable moments
along the way.
Remember that when remembering the 2016-17 Boston Celtics. They did what many
hoped for, but what no one expected.
Player: Avery Bradley
Player: Jaylen Brown
Player: Jae Crowder
Player: Al Horford
Player: Jonas Jerebko
Player: Amir Johnson
Player: Kelly Olynyk
Player: Marcus Smart
Player: Isaiah Thomas
Media Content:
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Media Keywords: NBA, Sports, Boston Celtics, Avery Bradley, Jaylen Brown, Jae
Crowder, Al Horford, Jonas Jerebko, Amir Johnson, Kelly Olynyk, Marcus Smart,
Isaiah Thomas, Brad Stevens, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers
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Taxonomy: Postseason, Sidebar, Playoffs, Postgame
Story Link:
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