the young members of the Boston Celtics recognized the superiority of the champions Golden State Warriors on Thursday. They conspired to return more vital for the title.
We have to learn a lot as a group and individually. Although we have grown and turned the season around, we still have a lot to learn about basketball," said shooting guard Jaylen Brown in the press room at Boston's TD Garden.
Brown's 34 points couldn't prevent the Celtics from losing in front of their home crowd 103-90 on Thursday to the Warriors, who were crowned champions for the fourth time since 2015 with a 4-2 aggregate in the Finals.
"I've learned a lot during the playoffs. After not playing last year after wrist surgery, I came into this year's playoffs grateful for the opportunity. It hurts to come up short, but there's a lot to learn, and the future is bright." Brown.
After his disappointing performance in a decisive game, Tatum acknowledged that they need to "level up" to return success to the Celtics, the winningest franchise in the NBA, along with the Lakers. The latter is going through a 14-year title drought.
"It's hard to get to this point. It's even harder to get past it and win," admitted Tatum, who had 13 points on Thursday, with 6/18 shooting from the field, three rebounds and seven assists.
"It's been a long journey, a long process. That's what I've learned: it's hard. You have to go up another level to do what we want," admitted the talented forward.
In the locker room, coach Ime Udoka told his pupils that the pain of this defeat should serve as a boost to climb the last step.
"That was part of the message. Let experience push us forward," said Udoka, who, in his first season as head coach, guided the Celtics to title contention for the first time since 2010.
After a disastrous start to the season, the Celtics staged a spectacular reaction to finish second in the East in the regular phase and eliminate Durant's Nets, Antetokounmpo's Bucks, reigning champions, and Jimmy Butler's Heat in the playoffs.
"The most important message was that we learn from this, that we grow, that we take this experience and see that there is another level to go to," Udoka said. "A team like Golden State has been there have done it. It was evident in many ways."
"The foundations have been laid. Next year we can start working. We are going to heal and be all on the same page," he demanded. "We've seen what we can achieve. It hurts us that we fell short. But the future is bright, and we've only just started, so let's all return better from this experience."
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