Past pain inspired Celtics, says Tatum

Jayson Tatum said the bitter pain of past playoff losses propelled the Boston Celtics to their record 18th NBA championship Monday against the Dallas Mavericks.

The 26-year-old Celtics star produced a masterful 31-point performance as Boston completed a 4-1 series triumph with a resounding 106-88 victory.

The victory couldn’t have been sweeter for Tatum, who just over a year ago was derided as a playoff “choker” after the Celtics suffered a traumatic Game 7 loss at home against Miami in the Eastern Conference final.

This resounding defeat came a year after the Celtics lost 4-2 to Golden State in the NBA Finals, with the Warriors winning the series on Boston’s home court.

Tatum said those back-to-back losses left Boston with a “relentless” desire to finally close out a championship.

“It took being on the other side and losing in the Finals and literally being at the lowest point in a basketball career that you could be, next year, the year after, thinking that this would be the time, and fail again,” Tatum said.

“Being short and having failures makes this moment even better. Because you know what it feels like to lose.

“You know what it feels like to be on the other side and to be in the locker room and to hear the other team celebrating, to hear them celebrating at home.

“It was devastating.”

Tatum, however, was all smiles on Monday after finally entering the NBA’s winner’s circle.

“It’s a hell of a feeling,” Tatum said. “I dreamed of what it would be like, but this is 10 times better.”

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, who at 35 is the youngest head coach to win an NBA crown since Bill Russell in 1968 at age 34, said past disappointments have forged his team’s resolve. players to succeed.

“It really starts with them,” Mazzulla said. “You can’t have a philosophy or a way of playing if you don’t have a group of guys willing to buy into it and be disciplined.

“Quite honestly, this group of guys has been through so much in the league that they know what it takes.”

The Celtics’ victory was also a personal triumph for Mazzulla, who was thrust into the head coaching role in the 2022-23 season after the abrupt departure of his predecessor Ime Udoka due to a sex scandal.

After last year’s playoff flop against Miami, several pundits called for Mazzulla to be fired.

The Boston coach, however, maintained that disappointment in his stride was part of his and the Celtics’ success.

“I think you just have to understand that praise and criticism are equally dangerous,” Mazzulla said. “If you don’t handle them well, and I think we’ve talked about this as a team this year, winning is just as dangerous as losing if you don’t handle them well.

“I think our guys handled the win the right way, whether we won or lost, we just moved on to the next game.”

rcw/bb