The Boston Celtics have a 10-day layoff before they begin their NBA Finals matchup against the Dallas Mavericks — something they earned by going 12-2 throughout their playoff run. Boston was also the NBA’s best team with a 64-18 regular-season record.
Yet, some believe the Celtics cruised through the playoffs because they had an easy path due to their opponents facing injuries to key players. And while injuries to Jimmy Butler, Donovan Mitchell and Tyrese Haliburton certainly benefited Boston, Kevin Garnett doesn’t like the narrative that it was easy for his former team.
“Their path is their path,” the 2008 Celtics champion said during a recent episode of “The Ticket & The Truth” podcast. “First off, let me say something, it’s not on the (expletive) Celtics that guys are getting hurt, not playing, falling out of the lineup, etcetera, etcetera. There’s still other professionals that are coming in playing hard as (expletive) and they’re still trying to win. And then to close out a game on the road? Man, I don’t know what people want. People want all this heartfelt drama and going down to seven games. Nah! That ain’t the script here. They’re damn near 17-16 games better than anybody in the East. They steamrolled through your team. … It is what it is.
“And then too, you’re down on the road 18 (points). They think that you can just hit a button and all sudden, you’re tied. No man, you have to go win on the road. And it’s hard as (expletive) to win on the road, and it’s even more hard to close out a team,” Garnett continued. “But then the Celtics — they have all this other (expletive) that they can’t control and that’s out of their control. Get the (expletive) out of here with that. This is where we’re at with it.”
His co-host and fellow 2008 NBA champion Paul Pierce chimed in saying health indeed is a factor in the playoffs, but the Celtics still did what they were supposed to do — and that’s beat their opponent.
The Celtics overcame deficits and comebacks during their playoff series’ against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers. They also played a majority of the postseason without Kristaps Porzingis.
The Mavericks will pose Boston’s biggest task yet — especially with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving also eyeing the Larry O’Brien Trophy. But with Porzingis a full participant at practice, the Celtics could be at 100% health by the time Game 1 rolls around.
As Garnett said, the Celtics didn’t control the injuries or how their path turned out to be. At the end of the day, they got the job done and now will fight for Banner 18 beginning June 6.
- Highly anticipated sportsbooks like BetMGM Massachusetts, along with Caesars Sportsbook Massachusetts have been live since Spring of 2023. New players can use promo codes like the FanDuel Massachusetts promo code and the DraftKings Massachusetts promo.
