Time to finally find out what these Celtics are made of

All season lengthy, these Celtics have toyed with our feelings.

Someday, they’re unbeatable juggernauts and the clear championship favorites. The following, they make the Magic appear to be the Monstars.

Navigating a championship-or-bust season isn’t essentially straightforward, however they’ve made it much more troublesome than it must be with their maddening inconsistency. All alongside, we’ve instructed ourselves, “they’ll flip it on when it issues most.” A part of that could be a coping mechanism and a part of it’s justified.

They can flip it on once they must, however will they? Nicely, we’re about to (lastly) discover out.

After one of the crucial embarrassing and head-scratching losses of the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown period – now down 3-2 to the 76ers and one loss away from a doubtlessly fascinating, untimely offseason – the Celtics get the prospect to point out everybody what they’ve deep inside.

“It occurred. It’s unlucky, proper?” Tatum said. “We want we may change it, however that’s not how life works. We simply must prepare for Thursday.”

There’s no extra ready for the fitting second. No extra hoping their irritating tendencies will magically disappear. No extra anticipating another person to guide the cost. Every participant has to take it upon himself to make sure that a woeful efficiency like Tuesday’s by no means occurs once more.

“It’s a real dogfight,” Marcus Good said. “Scratching, clawing, biting, blood, every little thing. In the event you’re not prepared to just about get soiled, in the event you’re not prepared to bleed, in the event you’re not prepared to interrupt one thing, in the event you’re not prepared to tear one thing, going onerous, you then shouldn’t be on that courtroom.”

I feel we are able to all agree that the Sixers have earned a collective hat tip to date this collection. They’re taking part in the sport on their phrases and dictating the tempo. They’ve had the perfect participant and haven’t let the Celtics’ depth put on them down as a lot because it in all probability ought to.

Philly deserves to be up 3-2 proper now, and if it wins this collection, I like its probabilities to go all the way in which.

Now having mentioned that, the hassle the Celtics have put forth has been uninspiring at finest and franchise-altering at worst. Sport 1 was a actuality examine. Sport 2 was a hit. Sport 3 was spectacular. Sport 4 was too little, too late. Sport 5 was straight up brutal.

I went into Sport 5 anticipating the Celtics to play their finest when it mattered most and outlast the 76ers in a back-and-forth battle. Yeah, that didn’t fairly occur.

“I feel we simply didn’t have it right this moment,” Tatum said. “All through the playoffs, we’ve performed rather well, though we’ve misplaced a number of video games. Right this moment was simply form of like a troublesome day for us.”

Nice groups have off days each now and again, however championship groups haven’t got off days once they have to be at their finest.

So, what’s subsequent? Nicely, we lastly get to see what sort of struggle this workforce really has. We all know Good might be prepared. Will Tatum make a shot within the first quarter? Will Brown hold it going the entire sport? Will Robert Williams search for his offense? Will Derrick White be extra aggressive? Will Malcolm Brogdon get in James Harden’s face? Will Al Horford make a nook 3? Will anybody cease that darn MVP?

If the Celtics don’t come out completely flying – and set the tone early just like the Sixers did in Sport 5 – they don’t need to win all of it. In the event that they do, and so they survive in Sport 6 and take Sport 7 — this can profit them immensely in the long term.

Bear in mind, in opposition to the then-defending champion Bucks final 12 months, the Celtics overcame a 3-2 deficit within the Japanese Convention semifinals and received the collection in seven video games. It may be accomplished.

Does this workforce have that very same psychological fortitude and willpower? We’re about to seek out out.

“Final 12 months’s over with,” Brown said. “This 12 months, we’ve got to come back out and be higher than we have been tonight, or we’ll have a unique ending.”