A 3-2 deficit against a proven champion? Sounds familiar.

This Celtics playoff run has been wildly unpredictable, with ebbs and flows, highs and lows and “yeses” and “nos.”

The one sample that’s held true all through is that it’s inevitable for everybody to overreact after every recreation. Anytime the Celtics win, it’s championship or bust. After they lose, individuals act like their season is over. These are the principles, and it’s important to stand tall sufficient to journey the emotional rollercoaster.

Every time panic has ensued, the Celtics have calmly supplied a counterpunch to maintain their season alive. With Sport 6 set for Thursday evening in Boston, there’s nonetheless time for the Celtics to place forth yet one more a Herculean effort, however the sand within the hourglass is shortly disappearing.

“Now our backs are in opposition to the wall,” Al Horford mentioned. “And we’ve to see what we’re manufactured from. The problem begins on Thursday.”

The unhealthy information for the Celtics is that they’re up in opposition to a Warriors group with a collective killer intuition and a basketball murderer in Stephen Curry. The excellent news for Boston is that it’s been right here earlier than. In reality, simply two sequence in the past, the Celtics rallied from a 3-2 deficit to outlast Milwaukee in seven video games and advance.

Everybody thought the Celtics had been completed after they dropped a heartbreaker in Sport 5, however they responded to win two straight and knock out the defending champs. Can they reply from one other 3-2 gap? Solely time will inform, nevertheless it’s not out of the realm of risk.

In that Milwaukee sequence, the groups went forwards and backwards within the first 4 video games and had been knotted at two apiece – similar to the Celtics had been in opposition to Golden State. A Sport 5 win over the Bucks would have put them in a super spot, however the Celtics made life unnecessarily tough as soon as once more by faltering within the clutch.

Giannis Antetokounmpo dropped 40 and Milwaukee outscored Boston, 33-21, within the fourth quarter to steal Sport 5. That was considered as the start of the top, nevertheless it was truly the start of one thing really magical.

These Celtics are cussed. For some cause, they play their greatest basketball when the percentages are stacked in opposition to them. It’s like when the youthful brother takes a lead within the yard and the older brother realizes he can’t fiddle anymore or the youthful brother can be in his ear yapping for months.

In Sport 6 in opposition to the Bucks, Jayson Tatum erupted for 46 on 17-of-32 taking pictures, Antetokounmpo had 44 and the Celtics stayed alive with a 108-95 win. Then got here “The Grant Williams Sport,” when he outscored Antetokounmpo, 27-25, and willed the Celtics to a 109-81, series-clinching triumph.

The Finals have adopted a largely comparable trajectory, with one star participant dictating a lot of the motion however the position gamers typically figuring out the result simply as a lot if no more. Whereas Curry’s play is often a barometer for the way the Warriors fare, it’s crucial that the Celtics preserve Golden State’s position gamers in verify. If Curry explodes for 40-plus, that doesn’t imply the Warriors will mechanically win.

Tatum could not drop 46 once more, however he could not need to. The Celtics have the depth and psychological fortitude to face up to an onslaught. They should re-establish themselves because the extra bodily group, save their legs for the fourth quarter as a lot as they will and remind themselves that that is their final likelihood.

“Your religion gotta be at an all-time excessive,” Jaylen Brown mentioned. “We obtained to play as a group. All season lengthy, it’s been us vs. everyone.”

The Milwaukee sequence proved coming from behind is feasible. Groups that go down 3-2 are ordinarily completed, however this Celtics group is something however strange.

They’ve relished the underdog position all season. They’ve picked themselves up when every little thing appears bleak. They’ve defied the percentages time and time once more. A championship continues to be inside attain, and that begins in Sport 6.

“We higher be assured,” Tatum mentioned. “We ain’t obtained to win two in at some point. We simply gotta win one recreation on Thursday. We’ve been on this scenario earlier than. It’s not over.”