The Boston Celtics are facing a daunting series deficit against the Miami Heat in the 2023 Eastern Conference finals. Down 2-0 at the time of this writing, the task ahead of the Celtics is a tall one, especially as the team looks to make a return visit to the NBA Finals. Boston is hoping to become just the seventh team ever come back and win a series after going down 0-2.
There are some reasons for optimism for basketball fans in the Hub. Although historically only 9.7% of teams have ever advanced in this situation, the Celtics have done so twice in their history. During the 1969 NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers grabbed a 2-0 series lead before the Celtics stormed back to win that year’s title in seven games. More recently, Boston defeated the Chicago Bulls in six games after dropping the first two in the first round of the 2017 postseason. Still, the situation facing this Celtics team is a dangerous one.
Regardless of the history or magnitude of the challenge, though, Boston’s All-NBA forward Jaylen Brown is ready for the fight. In his postgame press conference following a difficult Game 2 loss, Brown explained why he thinks the Celtics are ready for a fight.
“We’ve just got to come out fighting and play basketball,” Brown said. I think both of these two games [the Heat] have been able to come out on top, but who is to say we can’t come out on top in the next two games?
“We just got to come ready to play basketball,” Brown added. “We can’t lose our confidence. It’s the first to four. It should make for a better story.”
This is Brown’s fifth Eastern Conference finals as a pro, and his team has seen plenty of adversity in that time. He was a member of the 2017 club that came back down 2-0, to say nothing of a disappointing NBA Finals last season. As such, Brown knows its not a fun or enviable situation the Celtics are in.
“We dropped two games here on our home court,” Brown said. “Let our fan base down, let everybody down. But we got opportunities still in front of us. So, you look forward to it, and you get up and you play basketball.”
With two home losses, Boston will need to win at least two games in Miami to advance. The Heat are a perfect 5-0 at home so far this postseason, but the Celtics are 4-2 as visitors. There’s still lots of basketball left.
Brown understands Boston will need to hang tough and tighten up in order to extend the series. As he told reporters, he is ready for the fight.
“We got to find a way to win one,” Brown said. “And then we go from there.”
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Story originally appeared on Celtics Wire