Celtics look to move forward
Players attempt another rebound
WALTHAM - The Celtics' return flight from Atlanta early yesterday morning was library-quiet at the start. They eventually got the disappointment of the Game 6 loss to the Hawks Friday night off their chests. And by the time the plane touched down at 4 a.m., they had decided to let it go and turn their focus to today's Game 7 at TD Banknorth Garden.
The winner plays the Cavaliers, likely beginning Tuesday, while the loser goes on vacation. And while the pressure is heavily on the top-seeded Celtics, they seemed loose and focused during yesterday's practice at HealthPoint.
"At 1 o'clock they're going to toss the ball up and we're going to have to play basketball," said coach Doc Rivers. "Honestly, that's how we look at it."
Said Ray Allen, "We're all excited about it being a 1 o'clock game. We don't have to wait all day."
The Celtics earned an NBA-best 66 wins during the regular season, beat every team in the league at least once, have three All-Stars on their roster, and have had championship dreams since the arrival of Kevin Garnett. The Hawks' 37 wins were the fewest of any team in the postseason, and they are in the playoffs for the first time since 1999.
But those win totals mean nothing now. Today's game is about which team plays better for 48 minutes (or longer), not which team is better on paper.
"It's basketball," Rivers said. "Clearly, we'd have loved to have won in four. We'd have loved to have won in five, six. But we have to win in seven.
"We earned the right to do it at home. We're at home. We can't worry about what's happened. We have to take care of Game 7."
"I'm not surprised," said Allen. "That's probably a lesson for everybody that you can't go into a situation or a game thinking that it's going to go the way that you hope for it to go. Atlanta's played well in a well-fought series."
Rivers said the primary focus during the Celtics' walkthrough yesterday was defense. The Celtics have limited the Hawks to an average of 81 points in the three games in Boston. But in Atlanta, the Celtics allowed 100.6 points per game.
Hawks All-Star guard Joe Johnson is averaging a team-high 20.7 points per game in the series. Rivers said the Celtics were too aggressive with their traps against Johnson in Game 6, and added that the Hawks got to many more of the loose balls Friday night.
"At the end of the day, I think it's our defense in the three games we've lost," Rivers said.
The good news for the Celtics is that they are 5-0 against the Hawks at the Garden this season, with an average margin of victory of 22.3 points in this series.
"One thing I have taken for granted is our crowd," Rivers said. "They are going to be there. They are going to be loud. They are going to be into the game.
"You do worry about the 1 o'clock time because it is a different time and it is a different makeup. But other than that, the crowd will be fantastic. But like I said going into Game 5, it's our job to go into Game 7 with the energy to be loud."
Said James Posey, "We've got an opportunity to redeem ourselves and make ourselves feel better about winning."
Only three times in NBA history has a 1 seed been upset by an 8 seed. The history talk surrounding the Celtics all season has been about whether they can win a 17th NBA title, but with a loss today, the Celtics could go down as the biggest upset victim ever.
"If we get through this, it will be a good lesson for us," Rivers said. "If we don't get through it, it will be a bad lesson for us."
Said Allen, "By no means are we going to go [into] the game thinking that the pressure of the world is on us. We just have to play basketball and be who we are and not worry what's supposed to be in this situation.
"We have to let what happens happen, and we'll do our best to overcome."
Marc J. Spears can be reached at mspears@globe.com
