It has to be said that the NBA league's almost superstitious data does have their charm.
In the previous 150 0-3 series in NBA playoff history, none of the teams that trailed advanced - and when the Boston Celtics dragged the series into the "tie-for-seven" of home games, the noise and roar of home fans still could not help them break through the shackles of fate.
Tatum sprained his ankle in the opening game.
On the 30th, at the TD Garden Arena in Boston, the Celtics lost the "life and death battle" in an inexplicable way - Tatum sprained his ankle on the first offense; A timeout from manager Mazura while leading interrupted the team's attacking rhythm; Jaylen Brown keeps making mistakes...
After all, the Celts did not become a miracle itself, but became the paving stone for the greatest "Black Eight Miracles" in history.
As it bids farewell to the season, the multi-million dollar luxury tax team also leaves a host of questions to be solved, the most interesting of which is whether the "double prospect" combination of Tatum and Jaylen Brown will continue?
Brown's performance throughout the Eastern Conference Finals was not as good as the Heat's lost draft pick Martin.
Sprains and mistakes
Before the final game of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics were almost unanimously optimistic.
The US media outlet ESPN even estimated the Celtics' probability of qualifying to 97% - for the simple reason that they found a way to contain the Heat on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends in a three-game winning streak, and the final game was at home.
In addition, according to NBA data, the Celtics have a record of 8-0 in the playoffs facing elimination in the East over the past two seasons; Tatum averaged more than 27 points per game in the previous 15 playoff games facing elimination, the highest in team history.
But who would have thought that it was not the Heat players who would ultimately stop Tatum from continuing to dominate in the "life and death battle", but a sudden injury.
Tatum lasted the whole game with his injury.
In the first attack of the game, Tatum accidentally stepped on Vincent while landing, and sprained his left ankle close to 90°. In the post-match description of teammate Smart, "Tatum really hurt his ankle and he could have walked off, but he tried hard to win. ”
Tatum played the whole game, but only made 13 shots, the second-lowest shot in the playoffs this year, and his sharp breakthroughs in the previous three games disappeared...
While Tatum was limited by injuries, Jaylen Brown, another core of the "Double Scout" combination, failed to take over the team's offensive burden.
Brown watched Butler snap.
Brown, who played 43 minutes of the game, hit just eight of 23 shots, including 1 of 9 three-pointers — and worse, he had eight turnovers alone, more than the Heat's starting five combined.
In the fourth quarter, it was an offensive foul by Jaylen Brown and a missed goal that allowed the Heat to stretch the gap to 17 points, completely killing the Celtics' hopes of a comeback... At this time, there were many boos from the TD Arena in Boston.
'I played a bad game when the team needed me, and after Tatum got injured, the team asked me to take over the game, but I failed, I did badly.
After the loss, Jaylen Brown blamed himself, and according to an NBA statistic, among all the "tie-for-seven" in the history of the playoffs, Jaylen Brown's 8 personal errors were the second highest number of errors in history, second only to the 9 errors of Mitchell, the first round of the Western Conference in 2020.
Brown looked guilty at his post-game press conference.
Does "Double Tanhua" still have a future?
Because of Jaylen Brown's poor performance, the postgame discussion about the Celtics has almost focused on one key topic - is it necessary for the Celtics to offer Jaylen Brown a super maximum salary contract early this summer?
"If they can't win the series against the Heat and win the championship this season, I believe it's going to be the last time Tatum and Brown play together."
Celtics legend and NBA commentator Kendrick Perkins gave his prediction and analysis of the "double scout" combination before the "Catch Seven", "The pair is now the old faces of the playoffs, and opponents are becoming more and more familiar with them, so if they can't go one step further and win a championship, how will the Celtics management judge?" ”
Tatum wears Garnett's coat, but the spirit of the old Celts disappears...
Brown played a career-best performance that season, averaging 26.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 67 games, and a season-high 43 points in March.
Such a consistent regular-season performance also helped Jaylen Brown be named to the All-NBA Second Team for the first time in his career, triggering his qualification to sign a super maximum salary contract with the Celtics in advance.
But the question is, if Jaylen Brown is retained on a super maximum salary contract, can the pair of "double scouts" help the Celtics go one step further to win a championship in the future?
According to the calculation of the US media ESPN, Jaylen Brown, who is about to start renewal negotiations this summer, can sign a five-year, $295 million contract with the Celtics.
Griffin also failed to win the championship in Boston.
If Celtics management does give the contract, Brown has no reason to refuse, but in this way, if Tatum opens contract extension negotiations in the summer of 2024 and asks the team for a five-year, $318 million super maximum salary contract, the "double prospect" with a total salary of more than $610 million will lock up the Celtics' salary space.
"It's very important to renew Brown." After losing to the Heat, Tatum was also asked about Brown's contract extension - in this year's playoffs, the relationship between "Double Tanhua" on and off the court was also hyped by many American media, and some media even used the label of "detached" to describe the pair.
But after dragging the Eastern Conference Finals into the "Big Seven," a video of Tatum and Jaylen Brown encouraging each other in the locker room shattered the rumors.
And now Tatum's statement speaks volumes: "Brown is one of the best players in the league. ”
White and Butler hugged after the game.
Coach Mazura, must be replaced
According to the "inside information" of the US media ESPN, the management of the Celtics has made the "renewal of Jaylen Brown" the top priority this offseason.
And if the Celtics succeed in retaining Jaylen Brown with a super maximum salary contract, according to the NBA's super maximum salary signing rules, Brown cannot be traded for one year after the signing is completed.
This means that the Celtics will largely retain their squad.
In addition to interior workhorse Grant Williams who will be a restricted free agent this summer, Tatum, Brogdon, Smart,
Derek White, Robert Williams, Al Horford, and bench players Pritchard, Cornet and Hauser will all return to the Celtics after the offseason.
That leaves Gallinari, who has missed an entire season due to injury, and Muscala, who is on a last-year contract with a "team option".
Mazura fiercely Tatum on the sidelines.
Such a stable lineup configuration means that the Celtics will still be the favorites to compete for the title next season, but such a stable lineup also means that opponents will be more familiar with this Celtics.
According to the offseason advice provided by the American media ESPN, in addition to renewing Jaylen Brown early, the Celtics' operation may be to strengthen their interior, but no matter how they adjust, they can't escape the fate of continuing to "burn money".
According to ESPN, the Celtics have already paid $74.4 million in luxury taxes after they get Muscala before the trade deadline this year — remember, there are only six teams with a luxury tax of more than $50 million this season.
So the Celtics are not very maneuverable at the player level, and the only thing they can do is replace rookie coach Mazura.
Indeed, several "magical" timeouts and challenges by Mazura in this series changed the direction of the team.
Mazura is the weakest link of the Celts.
After all, if it weren't for White's final shot in Game 6 of the Finals, Mazura's challenge of turning two free throws into three would have taken the Celtics out of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Coupled with his call for a timeout in the last game of leading, he suffered a big reversal from the Heat, which made him the focus of public opinion after the game...
It was an unsuccessful season for the Celtics, and a series of issues left with his departure were left to Stevens, the team's director of operations.
He used to be the young manager who led the Celtics back to the iron-blooded style, and now, when the team reaches the next crossroads, can he lead the team in the right direction again?