The Celtics’ surprise run to the No1 seed and the Eastern Conference finals was more than any of their fans could realistically ask for. Now the real work begins
There’s a saying that sounds like an ancient bit of received wisdom but probably originates with the justly maligned Tom Cruise vehicle Cocktail that goes “everything ends badly, otherwise it wouldn’t end”. Like many clichés that only seem meaningful if you don’t think about them too hard, it doesn’t really apply it to real life but it works wonders when talking about sports. In sports, only one team or player is guaranteed a happy ending, while every other participant’s quest ends ends in a loss, usually a painful one that effectively invalidates all of the successes that brought them to that point.
There are exceptions though. Consider the 2016-17 Boston Celtics, whose season ended on Thursday with a 135-102 home loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals. The Celtics never held a lead in the game, not even during its opening minutes, and were down by 20 points as early as the first quarter. Before half-time it became increasingly obvious that this would be their last game of the season. By any objective measure, it should have been a depressing, dispiriting end for the fans of the home team.
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