This is it. Game 7. A (...nother) shot to make the finals.
Jimmy Butler showed how to be a star in a big game after really doing nothing for two games. I can't explain the change. Does anyone know which Jimmy Butler is going to show up tonight? We better be prepared for 47 point Jimmy Butler and figure out how to not let that happen again.
I keep hearing on the local and national media that the Celtics are the better team. That the Celtics have more talent. I don't know if that is true. It is true when Jimmy Butler goes 4-18 and scores 13 points but it sure wasn't true in a game where Butler put up 47 points. He made the Heat a better team than the Celtics, at least on that night.
The Celtics missed shots and squandered opportunities in Game 6 for sure, had a lead in the 4th, even with Butler going off. But our bottom line stats were not all that different from Game 5; 46% FG% / 30% 3P% / 15 TO in Game 5 vs. 44% FG% / 33% 3P% / 17 TO in Game 6. Our box score in Game 4 was even worse. I didn't think we defended any worse. Miami just hit more shots, some of them kind of lucky, certainly not shots they hit every game.
So I guess my bottom line is that even with Butler going off and the Celtics not really hitting all the shots they should hit, we had a lead in the 4th and a legitimate chance to win Game 6. There is never anything certain in any Game 7. The Celtics clearly can and probably even should win, but they have to dig a little deeper than they did in Game 6. Easier said than done. How does the magnitude of this moment not affect our young players? What can you say to them or scheme for them to help? I don't think there is anything. They will either rise to the moment (as they have done in several cases already this playoff) or they won't and we will be back to the "Tatum and Brown can't play together", "You can't win a title if Tatum is your best player", "Marcus Smart is not a PG", and of course "we need more shooters".
And I don't think who the refs are matters. There are going to be some close calls at key moments, there always are, it doesn't matter what crew it is. I suspect they will lean more towards "let them play" but I actually think that favors Miami. I think they rely more on borderline moving picks and bully ball than we do. We have to expect this and play through it. Adjust in real time to how the refs are calling the game.
Seize the Day Celtics!!!