Jaylen Brown ordered the Boston Celtics to “embrace it and attack it” after they were forced into a Game 5 in the NBA Finals following a chastening night in Dallas.
The Celtics entered Game 4 on Friday standing on the brink of history – one win away from claiming a record 18th NBA Championship.
But those hopes were ruthlessly dashed as the Mavericks – led by Luka Doncic – swept to a crushing 122-84 win to send the series back to Boston on Monday night.
The result ended the Celtics’ 10-game post-season winning streak and Brown admitted they need to regroup quickly and go again.
He told ESPN: “Give credit to Dallas.
“I think they played hard physically, and then they dominated the glass. I think that was the key that put a lot of pressure on us. And then we didn’t make shots tonight, and I think that’s where, you know, we allowed them to play free, once we get them multiple opportunities to make shots, and then also we didn’t hit shots on the other end.
“We’re going to look at the film and see where we can get better, and then go from there.
“These are the moments that can make you or break you.
”We have to reassemble. We have to look at it and learn from it, and then we’ve got to embrace it and attack it. It’s going to be hard to do what we’re trying to do. We didn’t expect anything to be easy, but it’s no reason to lose our head.”
Final pic.twitter.com/kjPn3lbo6b
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 15, 2024
Such was the Mavs’ lead that neither side played their starters for the entirety of the fourth quarter.
It was a humbling night but Jayson Tatum insisted he won’t take too long dwelling on it.
“Yeah, not to harp on it too much,” he said. “It happened. We can’t change what happened tonight.
“You know, we always say you lose by two or you lose by 30, they all count the same. But we do need to be better. We’re not making any excuses. We need to be better, and we will. We will be better.”
