Welcome To Game 7 Where The Entire Celtics Season Now Comes Down To Tonight

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This is it. Game 7. Your entire season and dreams of a Finals appearance and maybe even an NBA title come down to tonight. Everything else tha-

Sorry about that. Game 7 life got to me there for a second. Where was I? Oh right.

Everything else that happened earlier in this season no longer matters. The highs, the frustrating lows, the choke jobs, the beautiful execution, it's all irrelevant. The goal is to now just be the better team for 48 min-

God dammit. Sorry. Game 7 nerves are a motherfucker. 

The goal is now to just be the better team for 48 minutes. We know the Celts record coming off losses, we know the Heat have momentum and Game 7s are usually won by those playing in their own building, but none of that shit matters. The Celts have won in this building twice before. No team seems to want to protect their home court this series so in my mind anything and everything is up for grabs.

When you get to a Game 7, you have to be as close to perfect as you can get. Every single possession matters. Every dribble, every pass, every decision is magnified. One bad play or a string of bad plays can end your season. It's what makes these games so incredible to watch as long as your favorite team isn't playing in it. If they are, it's hell on earth. I'm not having fun right now. Are you having fun? No chance. Didn't sleep a wink, I haven't eaten in like 2 days and I go from expecting the worst to believing in the best every other second. It's absolutely NOT a way to live if you can avoid it.

But, the Celts couldn't. Again. If you thought the Game 7 against the Bucks was stressful, I think we can all agree that things have gone up about 10 billion notches. I'll remind you, the 2008 title team had to go through two separate Game 7s during their run. Am I spinzoning right now? Uhhhhh yeah man, it's Game fucking 7. We have way too many hours to go until tipoff for me to not try and put every ounce of positive energy into the universe. We all know this team is capable of winning this game, but we also know they are very capable of throwing it away. The stress that uncertainty alone brings us is enough to kill a lesser man. We've seen everything when it comes to Game 7s and this franchise. Huge playoff wins, Game 7 losses to legitimately lose a title. You would think that would better prepare us for what we are about to experience, but every one of these things is different. 

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Which is why mindset is so important. If the Celts just breathe and play a focused and smart brand of basketball, we will live to see another day. They need to know going in that Game 7s usually mean refs swallow their whistles and there are going to be no calls that probably would have been fouls earlier in the series. Keep playing. Don't bitch, get back. We know that the second the Heat can sense they are getting into your heads mentally, they know how to twist the knife and things can get out of hand in an instant. Remember the 3rd quarter of Game 1? That's why these few areas are going to be so important tonight

1. Take care of the basketball

2. Rebound

3. Do not settle offensively

4. Take care of the basketball

Now is not the time to beat yourself. Now is the time to be the best version of yourself. Your stars need to be better than their stars. Your role players need to show up better than theirs. On the road, that's a tall task but this is the bed the Celts made for themselves. I want to see a team that comes out guns firing and pissed off that they are even playing in a Game 7 because I'm pissed off I have to now watch one. 

I've seen enough of this team to know that if they show up and play their normal game, they can advance. I've also watched them enough to know that you can't exactly bank of them actually doing that. Hence, the puking. Everything they've worked for, this entire turnaround, it all comes down to tonight. This is why we love and trust, for moments like this. 

It's time to win this fucking series and finally bury this Miami Heat playoff demon. We knew it wouldn't be easy because nothing about this team is ever easy. Play your game, play smart, and you live to see another day.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find a different way to not lose my mind because nothing I've tried has worked.

Love and Trust.