Author: Monojit Mandal
After their lacklustre performance on Sunday night, the Boston Celtics found themselves in the middle of a storm of criticism. The team was crushed by the Miami Heat, putting them on the brink of a devastating 3-0 deficit in the Eastern Conference Finals series. The game, held at the Kaseya Centre, resulted in a demoralizing 128-102 defeat for the Celtics.
The Heat’s dominance over the Celtics was so obvious that even Magic Johnson, a usually modest critic, expressed his surprise on social media. Johnson, who had a long rivalry with the Celtics when he was with the Los Angeles Lakers, expressed his surprise at seeing the Boston team simply give up. He asked Celtics fans to be “disgusted” and “devastated” by the team’s defeat. To make matters worse, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla made the extraordinary decision to bench his starters for the entire fourth quarter.
Legendary Hall of Famer and NBA commentator on TNT, Charles Barkley, had no qualms about joining in the collective criticism of the Celtics. Barkley directly attacked the Celtics during an interview with Miami Heat point guard Gabe Vincent, who had scored 29 points in the game. When Vincent expressed confidence that the Celtics would win Game 4, Barkley replied: “Of course you didn’t watch the game today”. What do you mean by “well-trained and not lying down”? “Hey, watch the tape again.”
As a result of their poor performance in Game 3, the Celtics found themselves under global criticism. On paper, the Celtics have more skill than the Miami Heat, but the eighth-ranked Heat are excelling with their unwavering effort and grit. As a result, the Celtics’ season is in jeopardy, with the Heat just one win away from ending Boston’s post-season aspirations.
Game 4 is scheduled for Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. (Brasília time) in Miami, and the Celtics have the onus of pulling off an upset. The game will be broadcast on NBC Sports Boston at 7 p.m. ET, increasing the attention on the Celtics, who are struggling to salvage their season and escape an early exit from the Eastern Conference playoffs.