Do you think Tatum going down actually made the difference in this series? Or, do you think that down 3-1, the series was effectively over?
It's a little frustrating to look at how all of the other playoff series have gone so far, and realize that we should have had a fairly easy trip to the Finals. With Cleveland bounced and OKC facing a Game 7, I'll always look back at this season as a wasted opportunity.
I don't think it would have made a difference because of the way we were playing.
This Celtics squad, if they had their head in it, should have steamrolled the Knicks fairly easily - and if that happened then they would have had an almost guaranteed trip the finals where they probably would have faced a hard fought series with the Thunder.
But they way they played against he Knicks really left me scratching my head. This is a team the Celtics have absolutely dominated over the last two regular seasons, and dominated for the first 3 quarters of almost every one of those playoffs games. It seems almost impossible for us to be THAT dominant over the Knicks, and then to somehow give away every one of those leads and lose the games in the 4th.
It's so head-scratching that it leaves me almost wondering if they intentionally threw the games for some unknown reason.
But one thing is for sure - if they continued to play like that then it wouldn't have made a difference if Tatum was there or not, they aren't beating any half decent team in a 7 games series with that type of mentality.