Boston Celtics may have lost the East, but Doc Rivers still loves them – NBA Update
The aged, bruised and short-handed roster of the Boston Celtics gave a heroic account of themselves this season, especially in the recently concluded Eastern Conference Finals series.
Up against a younger, athletic and more skilful Miami Heat, the C’s just kept on fighting and after the Game 5, they looked as the favourites to make it to the NBA Finals.
However, just when they thought that they had cooled down the Heat, LeBron James erupted with two of his best performances ever in Game 6 and Game 7. What happened after words is an open secret by now.
The effort and the hard work which had gone behind such an incredible Celtics run was visible in the tears their inspirational coach Doc Rivers had in his eyes, when the inevitable became imminent.
The emotional touch was also visible in the post game press conference where he termed his group of players as the best he has ever led;
“I was really proud of our guys, especially early on. You could just see they had the fight in them. They were going to play the right way. … But overall, I don't know if I've ever had a group like this. I had a group in Orlando
that I am fond of, that I talk about, the heart and hustle group. They're very similar to that group. They did everything I asked them to do. They came up short. … But, again, on our guys, I love them. They were phenomenal.”
Boston did everything they could have possibly done to have a chance of winning the NBA title this season, perhaps the last time when Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce will be together. They fought off the injuries to Jeff
Green, Chris Wilcox, Jermaine O’ Neal and then Avery Bradley late in the season, not to mention the ones to the Big Three and Rondo, and knocked over one strong opponent after another before being eliminated by the Heat, whom they had beaten in the regular
season.
For them now, it’s the time to rebuild around Rondo, and perhaps if they can manage to retain KG and Allen (restricted free agents) to stay, the Celtics might be able to have a last hurrah next season.
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