I know everyone is saying, “This isn’t our year. In the next 2-3 we have a real shot.” While I agree with this, I’m not ready to give up on my Boston Celtics.
Last year, it seemed like the Thunder had the Warriors on the ropes. After Game 4 the Thunder took a convincing 3-1 lead of the series. Not only that, but in Games 3 and 4 they smacked Golden State to an average of 26 points.
Then the improbable happened. The Warriors stormed back to win 3 straight games and take home the Western Conference Championship. This series seems to get lost in people’s memory because of what happening in the Finals.
The Cavaliers were once again faced with the Warriors in the Finals. Oddly enough, almost the same thing happened. The Warriors took an early 3-1 lead on the series with all of their wins coming at an average of 19.6 points. Then just as the Warriors did to the Thunder, Cleveland came roaring back to win 3 straight games and become the 2016 NBA Champions.
Now, if history does in fact repeat itself then the Celtics are in a pretty nice position. First, the Cavaliers have already overcome a 3-1 series lead, so maybe karma is setting up for revenge? I mean, it happened to the Warriors, so why couldn’t it happen again.
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In Cleveland’s battle against Golden State, the Cavaliers gave Stephen Curry problems. Curry did not shoot over 40% from the field in the Cavaliers 3 wins to secure the series. Thus far, the Celtics are giving LeBron James issues as well. James only scored 11 points on 30.8% shooting from the field in Game 3 and although he put up decent numbers in Game 4 James was clearly not himself. He picked up 4 early fouls in the game and missed on an easy breakaway dunk as evidence of this. The struggling of the team’s best player seems to be key in overcoming a 3-1 series lead and so far, Boston is doing just that with James. What goes around comes around right?
Another eerie similarity is the amount of point the Cavaliers have beaten the Celtics by. Cleveland has won by an average of 23.6 points in each of the 3 games. As I stated earlier both the Warriors and Cavaliers were getting beat pretty bad too. I’m just spit balling here, but I’d assume the teams that have been in a similar role used this as motivation. Maybe Brad Stevens could channel his inner Dennis Green and hit a “if you want to crown them, then crown their ass!”
Next: Upsides for the Celtics Going into Game 5
Don’t get me wrong, the diehard fan in me wants to believe this is true, but the realist in me says the Celtics have virtually no shot. With the loss of their leader Isaiah Thomas, the Celtics need to continue moving the ball effectively to have a chance to win. Outside of that, they need to continue to make James a jump shooter. If they can accomplish these two tasks they have a chance. It might not be a probable, but it’s a chance nonetheless. Just ask the Cavaliers.