'Confident' Celtics Ready To Bounce Back In Game 2
BOSTON (CBS) – The Boston Celtics are down 0-1 to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but this is not uncharted territory for them.
Boston has dropped Game 1 of a series four times in the last four years, and each time they followed it up with a Game 2 victory by an average of 12 points.
"We've got a lot of confidence, and those teams never lacked that," Kevin Garnett said Tuesday.
"I think we're just confident," head coach Doc Rivers added. "I don't even think our guys think of it in those terms to be honest. I just think we think we're a good basketball team, we can play better and we know they can play better as well. That's all we bring into this game."
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The Celtics looked sluggish and discombobulated in the Game 1 defeat, and admitted they did not run their set plays but instead freelanced out on the floor. They missed 20 of their first 26 shots from the floor, and turned the ball over 14 times leading to 26 Miami points.
"We have to be a lot more aggressive," Garnett said. "We didn't apply all the schemes, the stuff we were working on."
Garnett was unable to find any rhythm Sunday, scoring just six points on three-for-nine shooting and did not make one trip to the free throw line.
"Every game is different," he added. "Each game you learn something from it, and you try to apply that to the next game."
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Of the four times the Celtics lost Game 1, twice they went on to win the series. The other two times, they lost in seven games.
But before they even start thinking of Game 3 in Boston, the Celtics are going to make sure they put their best effort forth Tuesday in Miami.
"Being very honest, and very truthful, we take it one game at a time," said Garnett. "We're not thinking of anything else but what's going to happen at 7 o'clock."
