Celtics Lose Game Seven Ending the 2022-23 Season

By / June 2, 2023

The Celtics fall one game short of making history. And they did so in embarrassing fashion. A tough ending for what could have been a special season.

A lot of anger, impatience and angst is going to fill this fanbase for the next few days, weeks and, maybe months. Rightfully so.

As for the game, the Celtics came out flat, especially from three where they started 0-10 in the first quarter. And only finished 9-42 for the game. 

This team never figured out a way to win when the threes weren’t falling and it killed them in this series as they only shot 27% from behind the arc.

On top of that, a Jayson Tatum sprained ankle on the first play of the game certainly didn’t help.

Jaylen Brown disappearing, also didn’t help.

But the main issue was the same issue all season. We just pretended it didn’t matter. They let threes dictate the entirety of the game. If they fell they gave effort, if they didn’t fall they gave no effort. 

Combine that with going away from their defensive identity and this team was never, truly, the contender we had all hoped they were.

The only real positive was Derrick White, the same Derrick White who hit a game winner that had the chance to go down into sports and Celtics lore, but will now just be forgotten, as another sports moment.

And that hurts. But you guys watched the game, a breakdown isn’t necessary. It’s as simple as the Celtics laid an egg, something we have seen plenty of, but never in a game seven.

What should be discussed is how this core has now fallen short in an NBA Finals, in multiple conference finals(while rarely being the favorite), and now, have fallen short of history.

And while it can be, for this article in particular, that is not a dig on these guys, it’s more of the fact that as a fanbase who has lived and grown up with these guys for six years now, you want them so badly to succeed, to put their stamp in history, to submit their legacy.

And they’ve fallen short every single time. 

It’s different to root for a team that is built through the draft, with homegrown talent, than rooting for one built to be a “super team” or through trades.

You’re more connected with a group after watching them grow as players and guys, and it hurts more when they don’t succeed, especially when they’ve had numerous opportunities to. 

Questions will arise in the next few days, weeks and months as the off season transpires. The reality is there’s not much this team can do to improve.

A finals appearance last season, one win away from a finals appearance this season, with not much room for improvement, you have to run it back and try again.

And while the season was one with major promise, it was probably overzealous to think this was the year in the first place once the Ime Udoka situation transpired.

The teams whole foundation changed days before the season started. All we watched this year was talent take this team as far as talent could. And truth be told, it’s pretty shocking that talent alone can take a group as far as it did.

So the questions will be asked, and the ownership will be tasked with answering them. And that will transpire over the next few months of the off season. 

And that’s that for the 2022-23 season, one win away from history, and five wins away from a championship. 

Until next year.

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