Boston Celtics: 3 takeaways from Game 7 vs. Cavaliers

2. Celtics’ youth finally shows

Throughout the 2018 postseason, the Celtics continued to defy conventional wisdom, advancing through each round with four of their biggest contributors all under the age of 25.

20- and 21-year olds aren’t supposed to lead their teams in scoring during the regular season, much less the playoffs, but that’s exactly what both Jayston Tatum and Jaylen Brown did, averaging 18.2 and 18.3 points per game, respectively.

Despite the feel-good story of these two future stars, along with the entire roster producing time and time again, Game 7 proved to be a different animal for everyone outside of Tatum, who shot 9-of-17.

The trio of Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart couldn’t produce offensively after so many great performances, scoring a combined 21 points on 8-of-42 shooting.

Closing a playoff series is tough enough, as the opposition raises its level of desperation on both ends, hoping to not be eliminated.

Closing out a Game 7 with a trip to the NBA Finals, however, is something no amount of prior experience can prepare one for, especially when the opposition boasts a team filled with veterans who’ve been through so much postseason adversity themselves, led by a man hell-bent on advancing to his eighth straight Finals.

The entire Celtics team shot just 2-of-13 in the final six minutes of the game, failing to take advantage of so many opportunities that Cleveland presented them with, including two opportunities to go to cut the lead to one with less than three minutes of the fourth.

They played so well at times where it seemed like their youth wouldn’t allow them to.

In this, the biggest game of their season, they learned that even the best young teams have to go through growing pains in order to reach the NBA mountaintop.