The Boston Celtics are a surprisingly upbeat team for a club that just saw its second potential elimination game in two games go down as a loss.
Some of it might be posturing, but even immediately after the Game 6 loss, when emotions were still running high, the Celtics who spoke the media projected supreme confidence in their Game 7 chances, to a man.
Head coach Brad Stevens was even a bit jocular the morning after when asked what the team plans to do to get ready for Game 7.
“We’ll start with 17s, which are one minute sprints, side to side with the floor and then we’ll go into full court sprints, and then we’ll do a full practice and get each other and all that stuff, and — nah, we’re not doing [that], we’re going to watch film, and we’re going to mentally prepare.”
Kemba Walker, who has struggled to score in several games during this series, probably took the loss the hardest.
Walker was fouled at end of G6 regulation, per last two minute report https://t.co/bTJHcQmRIU via @thecelticswire
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 10, 2020
“I’ve just got to find a way,” proclaimed the UConn product postgame. “I’ve got to find a way to help my teammates more. I’ve got to be better for my teammates. At least look at the film — just be better. That’s all we can do.”
Asked why he was optimistic Boston will win Game 7, Walker was almost taken aback by the question.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” he asked matter-of-factly.
“We’ve got great players, we’re really competitive. That was a hard-fought game right there. We could have been given up — we didn’t, though. We fought hard, we made plays throughout the whole game, [and] two overtimes. So yeah, I’m confident — we have a good group of guys: we love playing basketball with each other. We love making each other better. know we’ll respond — we’re going to come out and play hard again.”
All-Star swingman Jayson Tatum echoed the New Yorker’s positivity.
On double-overtime, no-calls and the high road to a Game 7 win https://t.co/gi4BKiPRVU
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 10, 2020
“It’s good. I mean, tough loss,” he said, sounding animated beneath his postgame facemask.
“Excited for the next one — win or go home.”
Brown, who had another tough night with his shot despite leading the team in scoring, seemed ready to go back out and play another 48 minutes right then he was so composed and positive-sounding.
“Definitely a great teaching moment for this group,” he said with an air of assurance. “We had a lot of opportunities down the stretch.”
WATCH: Jaylen Brown’s Boston Celtics-Toronto Raptors Game 6 highlights https://t.co/gYtW4oaKvF
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 10, 2020
“We didn’t take care of the ball as good as we needed to. As far as heading into a Game 7, we feel good about ourselves,” Brown confirmed.
“Obviously, we wanted to get the win tonight. But when we circle back and look at the film, we’ll come back with a great spirit, [and] get ready for Game 7. It’s the NBA playoffs. We felt like some some calls, some things got away from us — but let’s come out, let’s be ready to play.”
“[It doesn’t] get too much better than this,” he added.
We don’t disagree, though to come out of this series of a win is one of the few ways it could.
