Jayson Tatum remembers how it felt when he was five minutes away from taking a 3-1 lead in his first NBA Finals before Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green closed out the game with a 17-3 run to secure the Game 4 victory, home-court advantage and ultimately the championship.
“We learned from our mistakes,” Tatum said Wednesday, two years after that lesson, after the Celtics took a 3-0 lead into the 2024 NBA Finals. “We learned from teams that were better than us at the time, that overcame obstacles and were mentally stronger then.”
“We’ve grown from there. We’ve really grown.”
Jaylen Brown remembers how it felt to crawl out of an insurmountable 0-3 hole to force a Game 7 in the 2023 Eastern Conference finals. Then Tatum sprained his ankle on his first attempt, eliminating most of his opportunities off the dribble. The offensive responsibility was suddenly on him, and the spotlight was on him, but Brown stumbled, making just 8 of 23 field goals and committing eight turnovers. Brown says the loss haunted him for months.
“Coming so close on our home court last year definitely hurt. It was embarrassing for me personally,” Brown said at Celtics practice Thursday ahead of Friday’s chance to close out Game 4. “I felt like the team was counting on me. JT got hurt in Game 7 and I dropped the ball. It was embarrassing for me. It haunted me all summer. It drove me nuts.”
Luka’s six career losses:
🔥 35.0 PPG (Most Ever)
🔥 10.0 Role Playing
🔥 8.3 APGWhat does Luka Magic have in store for us tonight? 💫 pic.twitter.com/PMECOo8Z4m
— NBA Television (@NBATV) June 14, 2024
It’s what got him here: playing like a two-way superstar in the biggest game of his career, on the brink of hoisting the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy, on the brink of redemption, or something like it.
“All of my experiences, all of my heartache, all of my losses, have shaped what you’re seeing right now,” Brown said at practice on Tuesday. “I never want to go through that again.”
Which brings us to Luka Doncic, the unwitting foil to Tatum and Brown’s chapter in the Celtics’ illustrious history, and the latest young superstar to embark on his own heroic journey on the Finals stage.
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