From all of the nightmarish occurrences that happened from the first three games of the Conference Finals against the Miami Heat, Jayson Tatum still saw the light in the tunnel with the Boston Celtics.
“Everybody was in good spirits. Everybody was upbeat,” Tatum said about Boston’s morale even losing three in a row. “It’s cliches as it sounds.
“We just tried to take it one game at a time.”
Indeed, their positive response amid facing a daunting 0-3 edge paid dividends, as they were able to fight to keep their season alive with a 116-99 Game 4 victory against the Heat on Tuesday.
The C’s, on the cusp of elimination and a humiliating postseason exit after amassing title hopes and expectations, suddenly pulled the trigger in the second-half with Tatum at front. The superstar forward activated his aggressiveness with a game-high 34 points, with 26 coming in for the last two quarters.
He powered the C’s to a hot 18-0 blitz in the third frame that catapulted them to ice the match convincingly.
Tatum knows within himself that they didn’t deserve to win any of the previous three matches of the series due to their lackluster effort and lack of championship willingness. But the victory this Wednesday still serves as a good sign to redirect themselves and be back on track.
No team has ever come back from an 0-3 series deficit in the entire history of the NBA Playoffs. Still, the fact that they were able to claw a win is still impactful to keep themselves breathing and continue that chase for a title.
“We didn’t play those first three games. We didn’t deserve the win, but we didn’t want that to define our season,” he said.
“We still got a long uphill battle to go, but tonight was a good start. We just try to carry this momentum towards Thursday.”
