The Boston Celtics proved themselves against the Sixers and Raptors
The Celtics’ first-round matchup was against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers were without one of their stars Ben Simmons, and therefore the team was dropped from many analysts’ early predictions in the East. If you look at the Celtics and how they played on the season with their young core, it seemed like a matchup in favor of the Celtics anyway. Boston proved it was more in their favor. They beat the Sixers in a sweep to advance. A sweep was impressive for Boston, especially in the first round. To come out strong early showed that Boston wanted to advance, but also that they achieved it because they were better than the East’s competition.
They took on Joel Embiid and what was left of the Sixers with no problem, which actually was everything except for the help that Simmons brings to the team. If Philadelphia would’ve had Simmons to play alongside Embiid and Tobias Harris, it certainly would have improved their game plan, although it probably would not have helped much against the Celtics who were confident in their offensive threats and looking to sweep. The series showed that Boston was one of the East’s elite and could advance past first-round competition, which is important for any team.
The second round against the Raptors was impressive. It was expected to be harder than the series against the 76ers. The Raptors were the defending champs. They weren’t missing anyone or anything which would limit how they competed. Also, the likability in the East of the Raptors was even with the Celtics, if not higher. Boston’s talent shined in the first round, but talent and hard work paid off in the second series. They challenged the defending champs to a Game 7 – in fact, it was the Raptors who forced the Game 7 after being down 3-2. It was an exciting series, but Boston came out on top in 7.
Boston had to work a little harder in this series. They had to play a better game, and they did overall against the Raptors than they did against the 76ers. They had to play defense along with their offense, and they actually had to play defense first, which they did. And their offense had to be adjusted because of Toronto’s threat on defense, which they did also and that was the most impressive thing. How Boston, through two series, beat out their competition and convincingly. This series earned them a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Eastern Conference Finals were played against the Miami Heat, a team that dominated all of their previous competition heading into this series, including the highly-competitive Indiana Pacers and the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks. Boston had achieved a sweep also against the Sixers, so it seemed like a fair and fun matchup between two of the better teams in the East.
The ending was bittersweet for the Celtics as they lost 4-2. But it was bittersweet. The bitter part was that Miami came out with the victory, but the sweet part is that Boston played a game that saw the Heat in a compromising position for the first time in the playoffs. Boston was playing them hard, shooting their shots, forcing turnovers, and their result was an Eastern Conference Finals showcase.
The Celtics proved that they belonged in the Eastern Conference Finals. One, because they’d made it ahead of all the other competition to get there and two, because they lived up to the standard once they got there. Every night, although frustratingly which resulted in locker room arguments, the Celtics never gave up and played through to close victories. They earned two of them in Games 3 and 5, then ultimately losing a hard-fought Game 6. It was a fun battle, anyway, one that Boston deserved to be a part of.