LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.: Marcus Smart is 26. Jaylen Brown is 23. Jayson Tatum is 22.
The Boston Celtics arent old, by any measure.
That doesnt mean they are lacking for experience or dont already know what its like to play in the Eastern Conference finals.
Smart and Brown are going there for the third time in four years, Tatum for the second time in his three seasons, and theyre bringing Kemba Walker along for his first view of what the conference-final stage looks like. The Celtics held off reigning champion Toronto 92-87 in Game 7 of their East semifinal series Friday night, earning a trip to the East title series against the Miami Heat.
We have three 30-year-olds, Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. Were basically a college team with a couple of guys.
You know, its funny. I talk all the time about, youre only scrutinized if youre in the arena. And Jaylen and Jayson, this is all theyve done. All theyve done is play in, now itll be three Eastern Conference finals for Jaylen and two for Jayson. And theyve been in this stage and theyve been huge parts of it. They are young in every metric except playoff experience. They have a lot of it.
Theyre about to get more.
Game 1 is Tuesday, Game 2 is Thursday and Game 3 next Saturday. The rest of the series could follow the every-other-day format; thatll be determined once the Western Conference semifinal series are done and that matchup finalized.
The Celtics are looking for their first NBA Finals trip since 2010. Theyve been to the East finals three times since, losing to Miami in 2012 and Cleveland in 2017 and 2018 meaning LeBron James thwarted them all three of those times.
We didnt come down here just for the first or second round, Tatum said. We didnt really pay attention to outside noise, whether we were favored or not. We know what were capable of and were just going to go out there and do it.
The Celtics could be getting another big part of who they are back at some point in the East finals. Gordon Hayward sprained his right ankle in the playoff opener against Philadelphia; he did some shooting before the game Friday, a sign that hes working toward a return.
Boston expected hed be out four weeks; Tuesday is the four-week mark, and Stevens thinks hell play at some point against Miami.
But I dont know when, Stevens said.
Hayward coming back will only make Boston better, and the Celtics showed against the Raptors that they have enough to win big games against great teams.
Walker said the Celtics would spend a little time celebrating Friday night, then get right back to work on Saturday. Wins are only harder to get now, and Walker made no effort to hide his joy and relief after Game 7.
Unreal, Walker said. It feels unreal. Its a great feeling. It took us seven games. Its a special group we have. We fought, we clawed. Much respect to Toronto. Those guys are tough. They know how to play. They play hard. But we stuck with it, man, and pulled out a huge win.
And the East finals are their reward.
For those Celtics who dont know what those games are like yet, Smart, Brown and Tatum can tell them all about it between now and Tuesday night.
Other than that, were pretty young and pretty inexperienced in the playoffs, Stevens said. But as I said the other day, Im not sure that really matters when youre trying to win a game. You just focus on what you can control and try to play that game as well as you can.
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