It wasn’t pretty at times, but the Boston Celtics showed why they were the best team in the calendar year 2022 – advancing to their first NBA Finals since 2010. The Celtics will be looking to win their first championship since 2008 when they had Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. Boston will have a tough task at hand trying to slow down the Warriors. Let’s take a look at what’s at stake for Boston.
1. Jayson Tatum’s Ascension to the NBA’s Elite:
If Jayson Tatum leads this Celtics team to the NBA title he would have defeated Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jimmy Butler, and then the Splash Bros. That would be an all-time playoff run led by a superstar who hasn’t even reached the age of 25. Tatum has had signature moments in this postseason so far. His game winning layup against Brooklyn started the postseason on a high note. Then he went toe to toe with Giannis – scoring 46 points with his team down 3-2 in Milwaukee. If Tatum holds up the Larry O’Brien trophy it will be a spectacular playoff run and will complete his ascension into superstardom.
2. Validation of Hiring Ime Udoka:
Things didn’t get off to a great start for the Boston Celtics early on in the season, but sometime in January they started to click and the Boston Celtics never looked back. Remember Brad Stevens stepped down and moved to the front office and brought in Udoka. Udoka has held both Tatum and Jaylen Brown accountable and has the Celtics playing an elite level of defense. In his first season, Ime Udoka has proved that the decision to bring him in was the right one as Boston is four wins from a championship and speaking of…….
3. Moving Past the Lakers
When the Lakers won the title in 2020 it tied them with the Celtics for the most titles of all time at 17. There is nothing more that Celtics fans and the team would love to do than win championship 18 and move them back ahead of the Lakers. Boston finally broke through, having been to the conference finals in 2017,2018,2020 and now advancing to the Finals this year. Celtics fans are hungry for banner 18