Celtics Hope To Carry Defensive Momentum Into Playoffs
By Brian Robb, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- When Brad Stevens entered the locker room during halftime of Wednesday's game against the Heat, the Celtics were a discouraged group. After dropping two straight games against the Hawks and Hornets and laying a massive egg against Miami in the first half, Boston looked more like a lottery team than a group fighting for homecourt advantage in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
If there was ever a time to panic for Stevens, a 24-point deficit in a crucial contest would provide ample reason to do so. Instead, the head coach maintained poise in front of his floundering team.
"Brad sat down in the chair and he talked real quiet," Isaiah Thomas said of his halftime message. "You could tell he was upset, but he was basically like, 'Figure it out. You guys are playing real selfish, not just offensively, but the defensive scheme is real selfish. Everybody is hugging their guy and we need to play as one and get ourselves together and get ourselves out of whatever funk we're in' basically, and we did that.
"We kept looking at each other telling ourselves we're gonna win this game, we're gonna make a comeback and just believe, and that's the special thing about this team."
The Celtics responded to Stevens' challenge by setting a number of season records in the second half of the affair. Not only did Boston complete the biggest comeback in the NBA this year (one shy of 27-point franchise record), but Miami's five points in the third quarter tied a season-low for an NBA team this year.
"We just sat there and talked in this tenor and said, like, 'Who do we want to be?'" Stevens said of the halftime chat. "You know? There's guys sitting around this building that hung banners. Like how do you want to play? How do we want to feel about ourselves? And we just looked different after that, but that was a collective discussion. That has nothing to do with me; that has to do with who these guys have been all year, and for whatever reason we took a little break from that on Monday and first half tonight."
The top-5 defense that had been the calling card of the Celtics had been missing for not just the past few games, but for the past few weeks. In Jae Crowder's mind, a return to that form in the third quarter was something the team can build upon heading into the team's series with Atlanta.
"From AAU, from [NBA], to elementary [school], that's amazing [defense]," Crowder said. "Five points in the third, if I'm not mistaken. I've never heard of anything like that. Especially with those guys. Those guys hit everything in the first half. They were hitting shot after shot. We just buckled in. All five guys and our bench came in and picked up where the starters left off."
"I just feel like we were playing harder, everyone was out there doing their job," Avery Bradley added. "I said it earlier, the guys that don't play, they were doing their job, they were on the bench cheering everyone on and still being prepared if their name was called. We all had to do our part, if you are a defender on this team you have to go out there and play hard on the defensive end and if you are a rebounder, go and rebound, we all have to play hard in order to be successful."
The Celtics won't be favored in their first round series with Atlanta, especially after dropping the season series (3-1) to the fourth-seeded Hawks. A performance like we saw Wednesday though was the confidence boost this team needed to take the next step in its rebuilding process and advance past the opening round.
"This gives us some momentum," Thomas said. "It gives us some confidence knowing what we're capable of doing and knowing that we have to play with that intensity every minute of each game, especially come playoff time."
"We're not going to have a prayer if we don't play really hard and really get into the ball in these games against this level of competition," Stevens declared after the game. "So that's how we have to be as we move forward."
Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter @CelticsHub.