Grit: 1 Takeaway from Celtics/Pacers

I’m doing something a little different today.

We’re going to read a lot about Jrue Holiday’s heroics. There will be multiple ode’s to Al Horford hitting 7 threes. Jayson Tatum’s flowers are already en route following his 36-point 10 rebound master class. After relentlessly applying pressure to the Indiana Pacers, Jaylen Brown won’t be forgotten either.

A lot is going to be written about all of those guys. Joe Mazzulla and Derrick White will likely get hat tips, too.

So, I want to focus on just one takeaway today. A takeaway that has been a major question surrounding this Boston Celtics team all season. A proverbial stick that has been used to poke and prod Boston whenever games slipped away or the going got a little tough.

Grit.

Apparently, a team either has it or a team doesn’t. There’s no middle ground. No nuance. The notion of being a gritty team is spoken of in absolutes, and that couldn’t be further from the truth.

If you came into this postseason believing the Celtics were ‘soft’ or lacked ‘grit,’ then you probably felt vindicated as they faced a Jimmy Butler-less Miami Heat and a Cleveland Cavaliers team that lost Donovan Mitchell for the final two games. You probably clutched at your pearls when the Celtics bounced back for an overtime win in the opening game of the Eastern Conference finals. And gave an ever-so-subtle ‘I told you so’ when Tyrese Haliburton was ruled out for Saturday’s game.

Now, though, now that narrative has to be put to bed. Once again, the Celtics went on the road in conference finals competition and took care of business. It wasn’t easy. For the most part, it wasn’t pretty either.

“Some of those guys turned into f——— Michael Jordan or whatever,” Brown said after the game. “…In the fourth quarter, we made some big-time plays. Jayson Tatum made some big-time plays…We just had a great, great, grit win tonight.”

When a team like Indiana loses its star player, it doesn’t wilt. It rises to the occasion. Effort levels get turned up a few notches, and other players use the moment to stake their claim for a bigger role — I’m looking at you, Andrew Nembhard.

Facing a team with that type of motivation, while their back is against the wall, in their first conference finals home game for a decade, well, that brings a certain level of hostility and pressure.

The Pacers are playing with house money. This run is experience and expedited development for their young roster. Any win they can steal from the Celtics is a scalp.

The Celtics will know this. They’ve been the hunted all season. A chasing pack has tried and failed to derail their run. Nevertheless, the Pacers came close in game three. That is, until the Celtics turned up the pressure with about six minutes remaining in the third quarter.

You see, this Celtics team is wildly experienced. They know what it takes to win at this level. They understand how to win ugly. That’s when the ‘grit’ comes into play. That’s when the defense hunkers down. It’s when the offense adds another layer of physicality and relentlessness.

For all the talk of Boston’s elite offense, or Mazzulla’s penchant for math-based basketball, this team’s identity — at least when the chips are down — remains on the defensive end of the floor.

Thus far, the majority of the curveballs Mazzulla discussed at the start of the season have come on the defensive end. Throwing out random stretches of zone defense. Swapping Horford onto Pascal Siakam so Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown can match up with Myles Turner.

The interesting part is that to be an elite defense at the NBA level, especially at the deep playoff level, you’ve got to be gritty. You’ve got to be battle-tested.

The same can be said on offense. The Celtics have been doing a great job of using their rim pressure to generate open looks on the perimeter or in the mid-range.

Indiana isn’t leaving the door open for the Celtics to walk through. Instead, Mazzulla’s team is kicking and clawing on every possession. Fighting for their spots. Clashing to assert their dominance and superiority as an offensive unit.

This Celtics team doesn’t lack grit. They don’t lack commitment. They are ready. Each and every game, they look to assert their will on both sides of the floor. Sometimes, the can lead to ugly basketball. Yet, judging by their continued success, it would appear that they;re succeeding in their battle for dominance on most occasions.

Indiana put up a fight. They clearly aren’t afraid of the Eastern Conference’s big bad wolf. That’s good. It gives the Celtics the test so many outside of the fanbase believed the team needed. The fact they are rising and overcoming that challenge will be lost on most, though. It’s the nature of being the best. Usuually, you’re universally disliked outside of your fanbase.

Nevertheless, it’s Boston’s grit and winning mentality that is shining through. It will carry them into the NBA Finals. And it will hopefully be what brings a championship back to the TD Garden. This Celtics team is gritty special. Close game or blowout, that fact won’t change.