Well, the Boston Celtics are still alive. If you watched their anemic 26-point loss in Game 3 against the Miami Heat, you would have figured Game 4 would have been a wash as well, but instead, they put together the outing they were likely looking for in Game 3, and sent the series back to Boston for Game 5 with a 116-99 victory.
After playing well below their ceiling in the first three games of this series, the Celtics finally played their brand of basketball in this game, and turned in a stellar second-half of action in which they outscored Miami 66-43. It's the type of basketball Boston is known to be capable of playing, but has consistently been unable to early on against a stingy Heat squad.
And in the blink of an eye, the gloom and despair surrounding this team has been subbed out for hope of a legendary playoff rally. While many fans believe that Boston has all the momentum now, it's important to remember that this is only one win, and that the Celtics have consistently found ways to disappoint throughout the postseason.
Celtics and their fans cannot get too caught up in Game 4 victory over Heat
The storyline surrounding a potential rally from a 3-0 series deficit just sounds so much sweeter when it's for Boston. After all, Boston is known for some legendary comebacks across the major sports landscape, and even before this game took place, fans were reminiscing about some of those comebacks in an attempt to show that the hole the C's found themselves in wasn't nearly as deep as it seemed.
The Boston Red Sox broke the Curse of the Bambino in 2004 by rallying from a similar 3-0 deficit against the New York Yankees. The New England Patriots rallied from a 28-3 deficit in Super Bowl LI against the Atlanta Falcons to win 34-28. The Boston Bruins overcame a 4-1 deficit in Game 7 of their 2013 playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the final 11 minutes of action to win 5-4, with the final two goals before overtime coming with an empty net and less than 90 seconds of time left on the clock.
The Celtics joining that company would certainly be great, but the suggestion that it is inevitable after one measly Game 4 win is foolish. They are still down 3-1 in the series, and are heading back to TD Garden, where they have actually been worse for much of the 2023 NBA Playoffs. It's also needless to say that Boston is wildly inconsistent, while their opponent in Miami is anything but that.
For the first three games of this series, the Heat had been shooting the lights out, but they finally cooled off in Game 4, while some of the Celtics players around Jayson Tatum got hot. Tatum was stellar in keeping Boston alive again (33 PTS, 11 REB, 7 REB, 14/22 FGM) and he finally got some help from his supporting cast in the way Jimmy Butler was getting to start this series.
Game 4 was the first time Boston played at the level everyone thought they would be at entering this series. But as we have seen throughout the playoffs, that doesn't necessarily mean that they are going to come out and play at the same level in Game 5. Everyone thought the Celtics had figured things out after resounding victories in Games 6 & 7 to get past the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but look at where we are now.
Falling back on that impressive 3-2 rally can be helpful, but the Heat are far more competitive than the Sixers. Philly basically rolled over and died in both of those games; if you are counting on Miami to do something similar, you've got another thing coming. The Heat are way too composed as a group, and led by a battle-tested coach in Erik Spoelstra. Boston won one game, but that has only bought them another day to live.
If the Celtics want to keep going this season, they are going to have quite a fight on their hands. The Heat have made some shrewd in-game adjustments, but the major decisions they have made haven't really needed to be changed because they had worked through three games. Boston finally solved some of the Heat's defensive schemes, so chances are Spoelstra is going to dial up some changes.
Boston has the talent to make this series interesting, but expecting them to pull off this comeback based off of one game isn't a good idea. They are going to have to adapt to the changes that get thrown their way and not fall into lulls where they get outworked by Miami, which just so happen to be two issues the Celtics have struggled with all postseason long. They managed to put all the pieces together in Game 4, but continuing to do so is going to be a challenge, and it remains to be seen whether or not this team is up for that massive challenge.
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