Boston Celtics wasted a golden opportunity to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010 after losing Gm6 of the Eastern Conference Finals vs the Miami Heat. The Celtics weren’t able to perform at the highest level as the battered Miami took them by storm.
“It’s kind of indicative of how our nights have been in this series when we don’t take care of the ball,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka told reporters. “A lot of careless ones, unforced, and that got us behind.
“Throughout the game any time we got within striking range, it felt like we had a poor decision, and they got out and scored.”
Boston committed 17 turnovers, while Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum did not get involved much in the second half despite combining for 50 points at the end of the night. Evidently, both Cs’ stars were more on the background during the fourth as they combined for 8.
On the other hand, Jimmy Butler was torching them in the second half finishing with 47 points and 17 points in the fourth quarter. The Celtics were led by Derrick White during the same stint with 11.
“I think it’s just the flow of the game, how the game was going,” Tatum said. “Obviously, I’ve got to watch the film and things like that, but I think being out there and just the feel of the game, drawing a lot of attention, trying to find mismatches.”
Despite their disappointing loss, the Celtics are still confident they can win and get to the NBA Finals. Boston has already taken two games from the Heat in Miami. The Heat are also still undermanned with several players facing injuries.
Tyler Herro missed the last three games of the series, while PJ Tucker, Jimmy Butler, Max Strus and Kyle Lowry are playing through injuries during the series. Udoka said the Celtics are susceptible to making things harder for themselves.
“But just have to make it harder than it is, and at times it feels like we’re doing that, not taking advantage of what’s in front of us, and just overall sloppy basketball on both ends. We can’t have that on the road.”
Game 7 is on Sunday night.
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