MIAMI — Boston’s Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum had been in these moments before – playing in the Eastern Conference finals with a trip to the NBA Finals so close. But they came up short.
There was even talk that maybe the Celtics should break up the Brown-Tatum tandem, and the rumblings about whether the Celtics could win a title – heck, even make the playoffs – grew louder when they were 18-21 and in 11th place in the Eastern Conference on Jan. 6.
“It was tough, like truly,” Tatum said. “There were definitely some tough moments throughout the season where – no doubt yourself but maybe question, can we do it? You start to realize how hard it is to win. You start to question yourself. Are you good enough to be that guy?”
Tatum and the Celtics answered those questions with a 100-96 victory against the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday.
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Boston will play the Golden State Warriors for the championship, starting with Game 1 Thursday in San Francisco (9 p.m. ET, ABC).
Tatum was named the winner of the first Larry Bird Trophy given to the MVP of the East finals. He averaged 25 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.6 assists and shot 46.2% from the field.
“It’s an honor,” the 24-year-old Tatum said. “It still doesn’t even seem real right now. I’m just extremely happy and grateful for all of this. Regardless of how long I’ve been in the league, I’m not too far removed from when I was in high school and when I was dreaming about moments like this.”
First-time head coach Ime Udoka and Boston players will say not much came easy this season, and there’s truth to that.
“To get to this point we had to flip the switch and turn around in a lot of ways, and guys were always receptive to being coached hard, to being pushed, to being asked to do more,” Udoka said. “And that shows the character of pushed to grow and take the next step. They’ve all been here, and to get to the championship is obviously the next step, but our focus is getting four more.”
In a remarkable turnaround that included the Celtics finishing the final three months of the season 33-10, then sweeping Brooklyn in the first round, eliminating the 2021 champion Milwaukee Bucks in seven games in the conference semifinals then beating top-seeded Miami on the road in Game 7 of the conference finals, they are back in the Finals for the first time since 2010.
It is a breakthrough years in the making that involved important draft picks (Brown and Tatum), significant roster changes (Kyrie Irving came and Kyrie Irving left), a coaching change (Udoka for Brad Stevens) and a front-office change (Stevens for Danny Ainge).
“Ime just did a tremendous job this year building on what they have done the last six, seven years,” Celtics coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And they have probably done it the way that it’s supposed to happen in this league. You build a team and you have frustrating losses. You stay together, keep your core together, keep your culture together and then you eventually find a breakthrough.
“They have gone through the fire, and they earned that right to go to the Finals.”
Even Sunday’s victory came with difficulty and suspense. Boston squandered a 17-point lead in the first half and a 13-point lead late in the fourth quarter turned into a 98-96 advantage that almost disappeared on a Jimmy Butler 3-point attempt with 16.6 seconds left in the game.
“Tonight seemed to kind of typify our season,” Udoka said.
This was Boston’s fourth trip to the conference finals in the past six seasons. Their path to the conference finals is reminiscent of those old-school Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls teams in the 1980s and 1990s that suffered devastating playoffs before winning a conference title and then NBA championship.
Udoka established a defensive mindset, and the Celtics finished the season with the No. 1-rated defense. He wanted versatile defenders that could guard on the perimeter, guard multiple positions, switch when necessary and have big men who can protect the paint.
He designed an offense built around Tatum and Brown – both of whom averaged more than 22 points in the regular season and playoffs – while utilizing role players. It took time for Tatum and Brown to rely on and trust the pass. That still sometimes get them in trouble with turnovers, but they improved as the season progressed.
“Coach Udoka was very clear what he wanted us to be as a team, our identity, defensively, hang our hat on the defensive end,” veteran big man Al Horford said. “And on offense, play freely, use Jaylen and Jayson and just go. And us understanding and buying into that. It took us a while, but I feel like once we started to understand how we needed to play, we became more consistent.”
Tatum hung his head after the Celtics wasted a 25-point lead against the Knicks on Jan. 6 and lost 108-105. “That was the lowest moment for me,” he said. “But I think shortly after that, things started to turn around.”
Horford noticed the change in February. By early March, the Celtics were in fifth place, and by late March, they were just a game out of first place.
And now, the Celtics face their toughest challenge: Beat Golden State four times.
“I think it’s all right to enjoy this tonight and be happy because it’s hard,” Tatum said. “It’s not easy, clearly, this is my first time being in the championship.
“We know we have a tough task ahead. They’ve been there many a times, they’ve won many a times. I’m looking forward to it.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Celtics advance to NBA Finals, get big challenge facing Warriors
