BOSTON -- Ang Celtics ang second-seeded team sa Eastern Conference at nagtataglay ng home-court advantage para sa kanilang best-of-seven conference finals ng Cleveland Cavaliers.
Ngunit itinuturing silang underdogs sa serye.
“You’ve got everybody counting us out, but we knew from the beginning we’ve got each other,” sabi ni Boston guard Terry Rozier sa mga reporters. “We weren’t gonna lay down for nobody, no matter who was counting us out. We weren’t going to just let the teams come in and punk us.
Maglalaro ang fourth-seeded na Cleveland sa TD Garden para sa series opener at hangad nilang muling makapasok sa NBA Finals sa ikaapat na sunod na season.
Mayroon ding silang player na nagngangalang LeBron James sa kanilang roster.
“We were the No. 2 seed for a reason. With injuries, without, we were the No. 2 seed, so obviously we were doing something great all season and what (a reporter) said is true, you can keep counting us out. We’d rather (the media) count us out. We don’t want anybody on our side now. We’re doing good and we play better when our back is against the wall,” sabi ni Rozier.
Hindi rin pinapansin ni Celtics coach Brad Stevens ang kanilang pagiging underdogs.
“We talked about it prior to the playoffs, nobody should love a challenge more, nobody should have more fun doing it,” ani Stevens. “I think our guys have done a good job doing that.”
Samantala, ayaw namang kagatin ni James ang kanilang pagiging paborito sa serye.
“I think they are one of the most well-coached teams in our league,” dagdag pa ni James.
Para itakda ang kanilang conference finals ay sinibak ng Boston ang Philadelphia 76ers, 4-1 habang muling winalis ng Cavs ang karibal na Toronto Raptors, 4-0 sa kanilang mga semifinals series.
Nagposte si James sa postseason ng mga averages na 34.3 points, 9.4 rebounds at 9.0 assists sa postseason.