A year ago, the Boston Celtics were on the brink of history as they prepared to become the first team to recover from a 3-0 deficit in the NBA Playoffs.

After losing three games in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Miami Heat, Boston won three straight to tie the series at 3-3 and earn Game 7 at home.

But the opportunity was missed when the Heat won a blowout in Boston, taking advantage of Tatum’s sprained ankle and Jaylen Brown’s lack of feel throughout the series.

A year after that difficult defeat, the Boston Celtics hold a 3-0 advantage in the 2024 NBA Finals.

With no adversity to contend with, Tatum and his teammates now need just one win to lift the club’s 18th championship trophy, the most in NBA history.

When asked about the motivation to end the finals series in Game 4 this weekend, 

both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown pointed to the loss after 7 games last season in the series against the Miami Heat.

“Losing the season-ending game at home was extremely painful and uncomfortable. I also felt a bit humiliated and embarrassed,” said Jaylen Brown.

“At that time, the whole team relied on me because Tatum was injured, and I let everyone down. That thought alone haunted me all summer, sometimes driving me crazy because I didn’t do better.”

In response to the bitter defeat in the Playoffs last year, the Boston Celtics have bombed the NBA throughout the Regular Season this season. They are the team with the best record in the entire league with 64 wins out of 82, achieving the highest Net Rating in the NBA with +11.7 points.

This winning streak has continued into the postseason, with Boston winning 15 of their 17 games, losing just two. Even more impressive is that the Celtics are unbeaten on the road with seven wins from seven.

If they can beat the Dallas Mavericks this weekend, the Celtics will have a 16-2 record in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, good enough for second place in league history (behind the 2016-17 Warriors, who went 16-1).

“Last season’s Game 7 Eastern Conference Finals stoppage was the biggest motivation for us to achieve success this season,” Jayson Tatum said.

“Before the season started, every player on the team had their own goals to improve themselves, all of us were determined to change, aiming to build a strong team and aim for a championship.

Now that we’re where we are, it shows that we’ve learned the lessons of the past, learned from them and gotten better together. And here we are, hungrier than ever.”

Now just one win away from an 18th championship banner, veteran big man Al Horford said the Boston Celtics aren’t taking their 3-0 lead lightly.

“Day by day, game by game, that’s our mentality right now. There’s no looking too far ahead to see how things are going,” said the big man, who has played for Boston for six of the last eight seasons.

“We’re here to win every game, to keep the routine we’ve had since the start of the season and to keep it going until the season is actually over. There’s still work to be done and this is not the time to let our guard down,” Horford added.

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Source: USA Today