The Celtics have the talent to defeat the Raptors, but doubts must creep

If you’re diligently standing in the way of Friday’s Raptors-Celtics Game 7, the numbers are hard to deny. By examining the encounter without emotion, simply analyzing the math, Boston is the easy choice.

Over the course of six games, the Celtics were the best defensive team and the best offensive team. They shot better at the triple and also bounced better. Their best player, Jayson Tatum, has definitely surpassed Toronto number 1, Pascal Siakam. The Celtics came within half a second of putting the Raptors in a 3-0 hole before OG Anunoby’s Game 3 buzzer gave the Raptors their first quantifiable bit of life in this series. And the Raptors needed more than a little bit of Game 6 magic – not to mention a missed call on a Kemba Walker layup that could have won for Boston before the ruling was over – to keep their chance of winning alive. play in their second consecutive Eastern Conference Final. For all these reasons, the Celtics are the 2 1/2 point favorites.

At least, that’s one way of looking at it. The other way is this: what are the odds that Boston, knowing full well that they have the superior collection of top-tier talent on paper – punctuated by the highly touted lottery picks the Raptors are famous for not employing – will begin to doubt its ability to be the winning team on the track? Celtics manager Brad Stevens insisted Thursday that he slept more soundly after Toronto’s double overtime win in Game 6 than he did most nights in the bubble; he was confident in the knowledge, he said, that his team had competed hard.

But he wouldn’t be human if he weren’t at least a little troubled by the fact that the Raptors, no matter how often they seemed flawed and faded, somehow refused to be killed. Namely: even though Boston appears to be the best team, it has yet to prove itself to be the toughest, mentally or not.

The Celtics, as one would expect, ran their latest defeat with optimistic enthusiasm. From the start Jaylen Brown, who had 31 points out of 30 shots in Game 6, called it a “teaching moment” for his team. And Stevens has never failed to pay tribute to Toronto.

“This series is the two-seeded against the three-seeded and two teams that, in many ways, keep their hats on strength and defense. And then, eager to find a way to win games, “he said.” That’s why I have nothing but respect for Toronto. I said it from the start. We know they’ll be fine (in game 7). We know we have to be our best tomorrow. So whatever happened (in game 6), whatever happened in the past, has no real meaning. “

This last part, of course, raises a highly questionable point. Stevens kept this notion that whatever happened in the past is irrelevant. Early in the series Stevens talked about how Bill Belichick, the legendary coach of the New England Patriots, addressed his team with a message in the same way.

“When Belichick spoke to us a few weeks ago (he said) ‘The story and the experience don’t make sense. It’s how you play right now. ‘And I think that’s right, ”Stevens said.

That’s true, sure. All that each of us truly has is the reality immediately in front of us. And there is no doubt that basketball games are played in the present: a collection of moments follow one another until they finally ring a bell and count the score.

However, to deny the potential weight of history is to ignore the obvious. As ferocious as the Raptors play in the present, they are undeniably encouraged by their recent past. Kyle Lowry is the best example. Haunted by a reputation for disappointing playoff performance once, at 34 he plays with a calm and confidence that is only achieved by overcoming so many failures on the road to winning a ring. His 33 points in Game 6, in which he deployed a tireless display of shooting, including the jumping fadeaway that froze him, was a prime example of the difference between being the best player on paper (which Lowry doesn’t. is) and the best one when it counts (which was Lowry). The Toronto resident bulldog, in other words, appears to be enjoying Toronto’s status as a round two underdog.

As Nurse said on Thursday: “We had to fight really hard to stay in these games and scratch our way for some wins. That’s right (Lowry’s) alley. “

The Celtics, as much as they appreciate their chances, can’t be sure they can say the same about their best players. Tatum is only 22 years old. Brown, who is 2-1 in Game 7, is only 23. And as for Kemba Walker, the top-contract point guard the Celtics signed a summer ago for moments like this, as much as he is a 30-year veteran. one year and four times champion, this is his first trip outside the first round. Friday will be the second game of Walker’s career. His previous shift, in 2016, didn’t go well. After scoring an average of 25 points per game in the first six games of a first-round streak with the Miami Heat, Walker held on to nine points out of 3 for 16 by shooting in a 36-point dismantling.

Stevens sought to demystify the potentially daunting thought of facing the moments of victory or homecoming of those that any elite team faces.

“Champions do ordinary things better than everyone else,” Stevens told his team during a pre-match chat early in the series.

It is probably true and definitely Belichickian. But champions in the NBA often do extraordinary things even better than anyone else. Certainly this was the case where the underpowered Lowry drained the three key late game on the likes of Tatum, Brown and Marcus Smart, the latter a two-time member of the NBA’s first team defense team. Certainly this was the case when Lowry connected with Anunoby for that Game 3 exclamation point.

“It’s just his skills. He has a range of footwork, fade and pull-up skills. It’s his skills that allow him to do that, “Nurse said Thursday, attempting to explain Lowry’s ability to make game-changing games.” I think his skills have improved over time for him too. It adds a few things to the game. what. He’s taking it to the limit pretty hard, bouncing (off) people and scoring. He’s got the twist. He’s got the pull-up. He’s got the pick and roll game. It’s just skill. “

It’s not just a question of skill, of course. It is about will. It is about wisdom and resilience. It’s about the weight of history and experience, all the disappointments and triumphs, that brought Lowry to the center of another franchise moment of all time. Maybe the Celtics have enough to beat the Raptors. The ruthless and daunting truth of building a post-season legend is that no one will know until they show it.