Celtics Notebook: An already classic playoff series hits Game 7

Chris Paul, an onlooker, quickly posted on Twitter following the Celtics’ double overtime loss to Toronto in Game 6 Wednesday night.

“Best game in the bubble so far.”

If Game 6 was, to this point, the most riveting night in this series, its physical, floor-scraping, big-play nature was set up by a chain of great moments, from Marcus Smart’s 3-point explosion in Game 2 to OG Anunoby’s walk-off trey in Game 3.

And now, heading into tonight’s Game 7, Nick Nurse can indeed take a moment to savor where he is.

“Certainly this is kind of why you coach,” the Raptors coach said Thursday. “The super-competitive playoffs, a lot on the line. It’s kind of the crazy love of a coach, right?

“You want to be in the middle of that,” said Nurse. “That is the love of coaching and competition. There is some enjoyment. Last year when we had to get on the plane and go to Golden State after almost having Game 5 wrapped up, I was having fun. It was fun coaching in the NBA Finals.”

Even Brad Stevens, more understated on the subject and, as always, stridently focused on the next play, had to admit to loving the experience.

“Yeah, of course. Well, first of all, yeah it’s really hard because you’re tremendously biased, right? And you’re also, you want so bad to be successful,” said the Celtics coach. “That’ll be the case at any time. But the older I’ve gotten the more I appreciate it. And I think that’s because I know how hard winning is and I know how hard it is to compete, and get back up.

“That’s why I slept well last night, because I’m excited about tomorrow,” said Stevens. “It’s a great opportunity. I look at all these things as great opportunities. Our team has had a special season. Their team’s had a special season. Both teams have probably done as much as anybody thought as far as the level we’ve played at. And so it’s great that we get a chance to play for it tomorrow, and we’re going to give it everything we have.”

Nurse, thinking back to last season’s win over Golden State for the NBA title, recalled the need to recover from victories.

“Hopefully we handle it OK. There were moments last year I was really concerned,” he said. “When we won Game 7 against Philly last year, and got on the plane next day to go to Milwaukee, I had a sense we wouldn’t get over the emotional high of winning that series on a last-second shot. But man, we played great in Milwaukee. And then you try to take the approach that it’s another game. Focus in, figure out how to make adjustments for tomorrow.”

Just wandering

Nurse, one of the most active coaches along the sideline in the league, created quite a stir and probably played a role in Jayson Tatum’s turnover with 56 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The Toronto coach wasn’t just standing in the corner – his feet were on the sideline stripe. Tatum, who clearly thought he saw a teammate, threw the ball past Nurse and out of bounds with the score tied, 98-98. Jaylen Brown, who didn’t mention Nurse by name, later said coaching staffs need to keep themselves under control.

Nurse later shrugged, and when asked for a response to Brown’s comment, said, “No, we’re just competing.”

Stevens wanted no part of the issue, saying “nope” when asked whether he had a reaction.

Time lords

Stevens turned to humor when asked about whether Thursday was primarily a rest day for the team, considering that three starters played over 51 minutes and the other two logged more than 47.

“Well we’ll start with 17s, which are one-minute sprints side-to-side the width of the floor,” he said. “And then we’ll go into the full-court sprints and then we’ll do a full practice and hit each other and all that stuff.

“Nah,” he said after pausing with a smile. “We’re going to watch film and we’re going to mentally prepare. They played all over 50 minutes, too. It is what it is right? There are a lot of breaks in that game.

“We go to the monitor a ton in the NBA. We check everything. And so, like, there’s a lot of time to get rest. Just because you played 50 minutes, all that means is the next day you have to be smart about your day. So we’ll be smart about today. We’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2Rcgoi3