The Boston Celtics have a chance to win an NBA title on their home floor, but for all the wrong reasons. Boston lost in historic fashion up 3-0 in the 2024 NBA Finals in Game 4 Friday night. Securing a championship will now have to wait until at least Monday, when the Celtics host the Mavericks for Game 5.
Sweeps are rare in the NBA finals. The Golden State Warriors were the last team to pull this off back in 2018, and it has only happened three times this century. That said, Boston had their brooms at the ready given how dominant they had been through the first three games of the series. Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum looked especially antsy in the early moments of Game 4, and Boston perhaps got a little too eager to close things out. Winning a ring would be a huge milestone for Tatum, after all, but he told reporters after the game he’s expecting to take care of business Monday back in Boston.
In particular, Tatum said he expects to get a lift from the home crowd.
“I think it’s going to be as loud as it’s ever been in my seven years of being a Celtic,” Tatum said of TD Garden. ” I’m excited to go back home.”
The Celtics are 8-2 in the playoffs playing at home after posting a 37-4 home record during the regular season. Dallas, meanwhile went 25-16 on the road in that time and is 7-4 as the visiting team this postseason.
Boston lost by 38-points in Game 4, the third biggest margin in NBA finals history. But Tatum explained why he thinks Monday will be a different story for the Celtics.
“You have to move on from it,” Tatum said. “A win or a loss. We’re obviously going to watch film and see a lot of things that we need to clean up and do better.”
“But you can’t worry about it too much because we have another game on Monday,” Tatum continued. “Like I said, not making any excuses. We’ve got to be a lot better, and I believe that we will.”
Boston hasn’t lost consecutive games this postseason, and hasn’t lost more than one game in a series. During the regular season campaign we saw the Celtics respond to losses with remarkable consistency.
Tatum told reporters he is looking forward to traveling home. But he’s keeping his calendar open and his mood light.
“Looking forward to celebrating Father’s Day on Sunday and compete for a championship on Monday,” Tatum said. “So it should be a lot of fun.”
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