"Celtics are way too cool for me"- Shaquille O'Neal sounds off Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for embarrassing showing in Game 3.
The Boston Celtics find themselves in a precarious position after suffering their third consecutive loss to the Miami Heat on May 21st. Their hopes of reaching the NBA Finals now hinge on winning four straight games, a daunting task that appears nearly impossible at this stage.
Adding to their woes, both star players Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum struggled to make a significant impact in their team's latest defeat. Former Celtics player Shaquille O'Neal didn't mince his words when expressing his thoughts on the Celtics' performance.
"I respect Joe Mazzulla for taking all the blame," O'Neal said. "As a superstar, I cannot go 6-of-17. If Chuck is my other superstar, he can't go 6-for-18. Let's just keep it real; the Celtics are just way too cool for me; they're too cool. Jimmy and them, they're coming out, they're playing good clean basketball...The Celtics came out with no sense of urgency, the Heat knew what they had to do, and they're committed to doing it."
While Jayson Tatum had been performing well in the series against the Miami Heat until now, Jaylen Brown's performance has fallen far short of his earlier series performances. In the first two games, Brown averaged 19 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4 assists but struggled with shooting efficiency, making only 38.6% of his field goals and 15.4% from beyond the arc.
The Celtics still have another game to play at the Kaseya Center in Miami - an arena the Miami Heat are undefeated in throughout the postseason.
Jaylen Brown calls the latest loss 'embarrassing.'
The Miami Heat finished the regular season as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. As such, the Heat had to navigate the play-in tournament to qualify for the postseason. Since then, Erik Spoelstra has led his team past the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks.
As the Celtics were initially considered favorites to emerge from the Eastern Conference and contend for an NBA Championship, Jaylen Brown expressed his frustration with the team's performance in the first three games.
"We can point fingers, but in reality, it's just embarrassing."
Jaylen Brown reacts to the Game 3 loss https://t.co/S9jemYhn5I
"I don't even know where to start," Brown said. "It's an obvious letdown. I feel like we let our fanbase, organization down. We let ourselves down. And it was collective. We can point fingers, but in reality, it was embarrassing."
To have any chance of staging a comeback in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics must secure a victory in their next game. Jaylen Brown has already shifted his focus towards improvement.
"We just gotta come out and play basketball," Brown said. "Come out with a great mentality. Come out and have some pride about yourself. Come out and have some pride about who you're playing for."
The Boston Celtics will have their season on the line when they face the Miami Heat in game four on Tuesday, May 23 - as anything other than a win will see the team fall short of their ultimate goal once again.