BOSTON, MA — The Boston Celtics need contributions from everyone in order to triumph over the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals, and that includes the fans.
During a Saturday afternoon press conference, Celtics star Jaylen Brown complimented the Boston faithful at TD Garden. However, he made it clear that he knows Celtics fans can get even louder for Game 2 on Sunday night.
“I thought the crowd was good. I think we can be a little bit better,” he said when asked for his thoughts on the crowd in Game 1 of the Finals. “So I expect us to be even louder. Sunday, we are going to need our fans to be hyped. It's not just team versus team. It's crowd versus crowd. It's gas station versus gas station. Supermarket versus supermarket. It's the whole city versus the whole city. We need everybody.”
Brown gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about during Game 1 on Thursday evening. He finished with a team-high 22 points and took to the skies for some ferocious slams and blocks.
All Brown is asking for is for those in attendance at TD Garden to match his energy during Game 2.
What did Kristaps Porzingis and Kyrie Irving have to say about the Celtics' TD Garden crowd?
Determining how much of a role home-court advantage plays in a game is hard to do. Yet, the C's were undeniably wanting at home last postseason.
In the 2023 NBA Playoffs, the Celtics went 5-6 at TD Garden. Worst of all, they lost Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals while playing on their renowned parquet, falling 103-84 to the Miami Heat.
This postseason, Boston has been a much more respectable 7-2 at home. First-year Celtic Kristaps Porzingis has said throughout the season how much he's loved playing in front of Celtics fans. He reiterated that sentiment on Saturday in the wake of his stellar 20-point performance in Game 1.
“It was insane. I'm not going to lie. Just walking in the tunnel was like a WWE-style walk-in,” he said with a smile. “I didn't even know it was for me at first walking out, hearing that crowd roar and getting real excitement to start the game and give everything to these fans that came.”
Ex-Celtic and current Mavericks star Kyrie Irving wasn't as impressed by the crowd noise.
“I thought it was going to be a little louder in here,” Irving said in his postgame remarks on Thursday. “Crowd trying to get me out of my element, my teammates out of my element … The environment is going to be what it is but my focus is on our game plan and making sure my guys feel confident and I feel confident and continue to shoot great shots.”
The Mavericks are used to playing from a 1-0 hole this postseason. In their first-round matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers, they dropped Game 1 too, losing 109-97. They then responded by rattling off two straight wins and eventually eliminating L.A. in six games.
The Western Conference Semifinals were very similar. The Mavs were shown up in Game 1, suffering a 117-95 defeat at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Once again, they didn't flinch, winning Games 2 and 3 before prevailing 4-2 in the series.
Clearly, Dallas isn't daunted by a slight series deficit.
“I think there's no panic with this group,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said on Saturday. “We've lost Game 1 a lot of times, and we've responded. We believe that we can respond in Game 2. We just try to take it one game at a time.”
While Dallas focuses on bouncing back, Boston is honed in on not getting too content with a single win.
“You know, Dallas is a really good team, and they have responded very well to Game 1 losses,” Brown stated. “They come back in Game 2. So we're going to get a forceful, more aggressive team on Sunday, tomorrow. We've got to be ready because they are really good after a loss. So we can't be surprised, and that's what I'm preparing my team for.”
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