The Boston Celtics have reeled off back-to-back wins over the Heat to force a Game 6 back in Miami, looking much more like the team that was title favorites entering the conference finals in the process.
After falling behind 3-0, Boston found itself needing to do something no team in NBA history has done, but is just two more wins away from accomplishing history. Game 6 figures to be their toughest test as they have to win another road game, but they certainly are riding a strong wave of positivity after looking like a team that had quit in Game 3 and might be headed to the offseason with a lot of uncomfortable questions to answer.
What’s also become a fascinating part of this series is that the Celtics have now earned the backing of many neutral observers of this series, as, at this point, seeing a historic comeback has shifted plenty of general NBA fans into Boston’s corner. Among those is Draymond Green, who is selfishly pulling for Boston to win in seven, because he’s hoping it’ll at least take some of the heat off of his 2016 Warriors squad for blowing a 3-1 lead to the Cavaliers in the Finals.
Draymond hoping for Celtics in 7?
pic.twitter.com/eSvSxCGQsn
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 26, 2023
“Can they close the deal? I don’t know man, that’s an interesting one,” Green says. “The first team to come back from a 3-0 deficit. We would love to see it, wouldn’t we? Maybe I won’t have to hear about 3-1 anymore if this team comes back from 3-0. Like you can throw the 3-1 in the dirt. I’m sick of it. Would be a much better story, for me personally. Would be a much better story.”
Now, the difference here is that this is a Miami team that was huge underdogs entering the series, piled up a 3-0 lead, and has since come back to earth with their shooting (and also seen injuries start to mount). The Warriors, for those that may not remember, were the best regular season team in NBA history with a 73-9 record, went up 3-1 on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals, and subsequently lost three straight games to become the first team in Finals history to blow a 3-1 lead. While I get what Green’s hoping for, the context does matter and I don’t think it’d do too much to put an end to the 3-1 jokes because of how historically good that Warriors team was only to blow that lead (in part because Green got suspended for a game for kicking LeBron James in the nuts).
That said, misery loves company and there would at least be another team on the receiving end of mockery, so I fully understand why Green would be pulling for the C’s here.