Celtics face an uncertain future after elimination against Knicks
After the elimination with the Knicks that ended the reign of the Celtics, Jaylen Brown said they were not prepared to say goodbye now.
New York – A 38 -point defeat in an elimination match usually accelerates the stages of defeat. The Boston Celtics They were in the acceptance stage when they left Madison Square Garden Friday night.
A 119-81 beating at the hands of New York Knicks He ended the semifinal series of the East Conference between both teams in six games and the permanence of Celtics as NBA champions with a final end.
“Finishing in May feels weird. It is definitely not something we were prepared for,” said the Celtics star, Jaylen Brownwho was expelled for offenses before the end of the third quarter after scoring 20 points, but with seven ball losses. “Things did not come out as we wanted this year, and it is unfortunate. But we keep our heads up despite everything. Losing against the Knicks feels like death. But they always taught me that there is life after death, so we will prepare for what comes on the road.”
Although they recovered to obtain a victory in game 5 that forced them to return to New York and gave them the hope of a rare remote of 3-1, the Celtics never were the same again after seeing their fellow star Jayson Tatum suffer a tear in the Achilles tendon in game 4 on Monday.
But after the Knicks took twice disadvantages of 20 points in the second half to take games 1 and 2 in Boston and then the total domination that unleashed in game 6, the Celtics were ready to congratulate their once disadvantaged rival.
“We run into a great team. We must recognize the merit of the Knicks,” said the Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla. “They beat us. They played better.”
The Celtics did not have a great advantage to waste on Friday. The Knicks led from beginning to end and came to have an advantage of up to 41 points. New York showed a tremendous defensive energy, limiting Boston to 33% success in field shots in the first half, when the party tone was established.
Mazzulla changed its headline alignment for the fourth time in six games, opting for Luke Kornet, hero of game 5 and third holder of Boston in the series. But the Knicks did not allow Kornet to bother them and dominate the interior, crushing the Celtics at points from the painting (48-34), second chance points (25-11) and rebounds (55-36).
In addition to the loss of tatum, the Celtics never had the best pivot Kristaps porzingiswho played 12 minutes from the bench. It was key against the Knicks in the regular season, when it averaged 25 points with 50% success in field shots and Boston ended with a 4-0 record. Fighting a disease that affects it since February, Porzingis led 6 of 25 field shots and averaged 4.2 points in the series.
“It’s super frustrating. As frustrating as you can imagine. Not being able to help this team more, especially with JT’s loss,” Porzingis said. “Not being very helpful hurts deeply.”
Porzingis said he planned to undergo a rest period and more evidence during the coming months, hoping to “restart.” He commented that he was still planning to play with his native Latvia in the Eurobasket of August.
The future, in general, is uncertain for Celtics. With Tatum facing a long recovery after undergoing surgery on Tuesday that could ruin his 2025-26 season, Celtics face a record payroll of up to 500 million dollars next season if this squad remains intact.
The Celtics will soon be sold to a group led by investor Bill Chisholm, who has not clarified their expense plans after buying a majority participation in the team this summer for an assessment of more than $ 6,000 million.
“You will never recover this season. You will never have the same team again,” said the Celtics base, Derrick White. Obviously, the season had its ups and downs, but for the moment, the situation is a bit decayed.
