The sky is falling—oh, never mind, the Boston Celtics just lost a game.
Sometimes, it seems impossible to shake a reputation—fair or not. In the media age, the narrative reinforcement can be relentless. With every player or team misstep, there's an analyst ready to pounce on their misfortunes.
Even though few teams have consistently carved out deep runs in the postseason, Boston's failure to lift the Larry O'Brien trophy has caused anxieties around the franchise. Despite the cast of characters changing, the unrelenting stink of playoff failure persists. It's as if the team is never allowed to lose a game.
The Miami Heat are the 8th seed without their superstar Jimmy Butler, but they still have Erik Spoelstra and a group that is fearless. This unit has unrelenting pride, and the Celtics are known to occasionally take their foot off the gas. The talent gap is immense, but few onlookers thought this series would be a sweep.
So why is the sky falling when the Heat have one of the best shooting performances in league history and eke out a victory? The Ringers' Kevin O'Connor tweeted one of the most blasphemous reactions to the recent Celtic slip-up.
"The Celtics would get swept by Denver," O'Connor said. "Maybe they take one game due to a hot shooting night. But they have no chance if it’s the Nuggets in the NBA Finals. Zero."
The Boston Celtics are a title favorite until proven otherwise
The irony here is uncanny. A few years ago, O'Connor had Killian Hayes as the top-ranked player in the 2020 NBA Draft in a class that featured Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, and Tyrese Haliburton. Does this legendary whiff mean no one can trust O'Connor's future draft commentary? Of course not, because even the best make mistakes.
Last season, skeptics were targeting Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. They dropped a game in the first round to an inferior Minnesota Timberwolves team, and the internet "fraud police" were all over them. They went on to win their first championship in franchise history just a few months later.
Declaring a 64-win team dead after one misstep is mind-numbing. Last season, skeptics were targeting Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. They dropped a game in the first round to an inferior Minnesota Timberwolves team, and the internet "fraud police" were all over them. They went on to win their first championship in franchise history just a few months later.
Declaring a 64-win team dead after one misstep is mind-numbing. The Celtics are still the runaway favorites out of the East and to win the title. There's a reason no squad hasn't gone 16-0 in the playoffs—it's borderline impossible.
Everyone needs to take a deep breath and stop making nonsensical declarations. The panic button is far from being pushed.
Boston has a perfect chance to respond when they head to South Beach, hoping to regain momentum.