Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and the Boston Celtics have continued their up-and-down performance in the 2022 playoffs.
They are in the midst of yet another 2-2 series, and NBA Finals Game 5 is Monday night:
First to 4 Wins.
The series shifts back to The Bay all tied up!
Game 5: @celtics (2-2) @warriors
🏀 Mon. 9:00pm/et on ABC #NBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV 🏆 pic.twitter.com/5HaoU10CMO— NBA (@NBA) June 11, 2022
Brown voiced his confidence recently regarding the Celtics moving forward.
The sixth-year guard/forward is ready to take on the challenge of the remaining games of the Finals.
His confidence has not wavered, as reported by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps:
“Obviously, I think we can be in a better position than we’re in, but we’re not. It’s 2-2. Still, nothing to hang your head about. A lot of great basketball is still in front of us.”
The Celtics have been the surprise of the playoffs, but it has been no shock they have been so successful.
They have been able to get Robert Williams III back, and they were able to get past a Khris Middleton-less Milwaukee Bucks squad.
Brown knows about the ups and downs of the playoffs.
He has experienced a lot of playoff games during his NBA career.
The California Golden Bears product has shared the stage with Tatum during the Finals after his teammate took home the first Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player trophy.
Brown is ready to take the next step, and here are some more confident comments from Bontemps’ article.
“I still think we are in a great spot,” Brown also said on Sunday. “I’m excited to see how we respond over the next couple of days. I mean, it’s exciting. It’s the biggest stage in the world. I’ll take our group, our guys, versus anybody. So I’m looking forward to it.”
Brown, who is averaging a career-high 22.8 points per game this postseason, has not shied away from the Finals thus far.
He thinks this 2021-22 Celtics team is ready.
Ime Udoka does as well.
The rookie head coach thinks this Celtics team is capable, and that his squad should be winning this series:
Ime Udoka: "If we were playing offense the right way, we would be up 3-1, at least, right now."
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 12, 2022
The confidence is not lost among the players and coaches in green.
Should the Celtics be this confident?
Should Jaylen Brown Be This Confident?
Brown and the Celtics have looked like the better team thus far in this series, and yes, he should be confident even with the Finals being so close.
The two teams are separated by just one point thus far:
The one-point margin through four games of the NBA Finals (Warriors 422, Celtics 421) is the closest a Finals has been at this stage since 1969 (Lakers 431, Celtics 430). Boston won Game 7 at the Forum that year for Bill Russell's last title.
— Kevin Pelton (@kpelton) June 11, 2022
For the Celtics, they are hoping for a similar result this time as what went down in 1969.
Interestingly, the Celtics won Game 6 at home and Game 7 on the road in that series.
Also in that series, Jerry West was named the MVP after suffering the Game 7 loss.
Could history repeat itself?
Well, it could be on its way to doing so.
The Celtics have been a juggernaut of a team on the road this season, and they are undefeated after a loss in the postseason.
Stephen Curry is on pace to be the series MVP no matter the result.
Brown’s confidence should not be unwavering at this point.
The Celtics have the talent to become 2022 NBA champions.
However, is Tatum going to continue to miss inside the 3-point arc?
If so, the Celtics offense may not be able to pick up the pieces.
We will have to see how Game 5 goes.
It should be very exciting, and both teams have a right to be confident heading into Monday night.
