The Boston Celtics had their dreams crushed by the Miami Heat in the Conference Finals. Going head-to-head in 7 games, Boston seemed like a valid prospect for the title, especially after they turned the series around after being down 3-0. However, the Heat had different plans as they won 103-84. The Celtics’ loss was later blamed on the injury suffered by their star player Jayson Tatum in the first minute of the game. Despite the unfortunate end to their title run, an NBA legend is still hopeful for the Boston franchise.
Tatum got injured during the first play of the game, twisting his ankle. This cost the team as the absence of their star halted the scoring rate which impacted the outcome of the game. Nonetheless, the 7x NBA All-Star believes that the dynamic duo of the Boston Celtics has it in them to win championships together.
Former NBA All-Star believes that Jayson Tatum and the Celtics can bounce back
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Although Tatum got injured at the beginning of the important game, he stayed on the court for 42 minutes. While the 25-year-old tried his best to help his team win the game, his efforts fell short. Additionally, playing with a twisted ankle, Tatum was a mere shell of his own self. The 4x NBA All-Star struggled to execute simple strategies and ended the game with only 14 points and 11 rebounds. Even Jaylen Brown could not help the Celtics as he managed 19 points in a must-win game. Now that the Celtics are out of this year’s championship run, NBA veteran Tracy McGrady gave his 2 cents on the Tatum-Brown-Celtics dynamics.
McGrady was recently on the What’s Burnin’ show where he talked about the Celtics. While acknowledging that the Celtics got outplayed this year, he expressed that he is hopeful for their future. Especially with the duo of Tatum and Brown still going strong for the franchise. He criticized the lack of on-court-strategy changes by the team despite constant failures. The 7x NBA All-Star said, “Let’s just get to the basket. Let’s get to the foul line. Stop shooting threes.”
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He also said that even though the season was not a total success for the team, the management should let the Tatum-Brown duo continue.
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McGrady said, “You don’t dismantle that, I’m sorry,” suggesting that the two can do wonders for the franchise. He added that although they haven’t delivered the desired result yet, they do have the potential. With the experience of playing in four Eastern Conference Finals already, Brown and Tatum will hope to turn things around for their team in upcoming seasons.
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