The Celtics are heading back to the NBA Finals with the belief they can win this time

INDIANAPOLIS — There were no champagne bottles in sight in this eyewitness account. The gray folding table that centered Boston’s visitors’ locker room inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse was covered in beer cans and puddles of hazy IPA. The Celtics are waiting to open the bubbly bottles after the next round if they win the real crown, the 18th flag in franchise history after Boston defeated Indiana with a 105-102 victory in Game 4 on Monday night.

“We understand what we need to do and we dig in and do whatever it takes to get four more wins,” Derrick White said after the Celtics’ do-it-all guard hit the game-winning triple with 45 seconds left.

That didn’t stop staff and players from posing with the Eastern Conference Finals trophy, named after Celtics great Bob Cousy. They sang Drake lyrics coming out of a huge JBL speaker. Sam Hauser, Boston’s backup shooter, used scissors to cut a hole in the bottom of a beer and teamed up with an equipment manager to shoot the can. And then another. Kristaps Porziņģis, who has had a calf injury since the first round, calmly poured a Corona into a white paper cup. Luke Kornet, who sprained his left wrist in Game 2, caught a Kona Big Wave before heading out the door.

Even lacking 14 feet of frontcourt firepower, Boston handled two crucial Indiana contests with exemplary execution when every little element counts most. These players and staff certainly believe this is an evolved team from the one that reached the Finals two years ago, which took a 2-1 series lead over Golden State before the Warriors flipped the script and Stephen Curry won his fourth ring. Porziņģis is expected to be ready for Boston’s likely showdown with Dallas more than a week away on June 6. Jrue Holiday proved to be worth every bit of the significant package Boston traded to Portland for his veteran services.

However, Boston seems to believe the difference isn’t just who wears the classic Celtics green. “I think we applied everything we learned,” Jayson Tatum said.

“Time has passed,” Jaylen Brown said. “Experience has been gained. And I think we are ready to do our best.”

After trailing by 18 points midway through the third quarter of Game 3, Boston closed the game with a 13-2 run and a monstrous two-way team effort. On Monday, the Celtics limited Indiana to just 19 points in the fourth quarter, and the Pacers were scoreless for the final 3:33 of Game 4. Derrick White attributed Boston’s steadfastness through those crucial possessions to the meticulous habits that the coach Joe Mazzulla took root. at every training session at the Red Auerbach Center.

“It all starts in practice,” White said, “the ‘championship seasons’ that Joe loves to do.”

Mazzulla organizes different exercises in each basket around the parquet floor near the Mass Pike. Sometimes they focus on details as mundane as ball entry. Other times, a box-out exercise right after high school, twice a day. “Just trying to pick out little things that we see every night that can impact wins and result in losses,” Mazzulla said. “And we just practice them over and over until they become second nature.”

“It’s the little things we talk about that can help you win a championship,” Tatum said.

Perhaps that’s part of what Brad Stevens, now Boston’s president of basketball operations, saw in Mazzulla when Stevens named the 35-year-old interim head coach of this decorated franchise shortly before the start of the 2022-23 season, after Ime Udoka was suspended, sending Boston’s follow-up campaign to the final Finals appearance into uncharted waters.

When Stevens was just 36 years old and made the jump from Butler to the Celtics sideline, he won over players with scrupulous attention to detail, coaching them in specific late-game situations and putting each guy in all five positions for every action, so that they were always prepared. for all angles and all possibilities. When Boston returned for its first practice after clinching first place in the Eastern Conference this regular season, Mazzulla went through his lineup through what he called “playoff training camp,” a morning that Al Horford called more difficult than anything. that the Celtics endured during the preseason, with the coach challenging players through challenges like playing full court for three minutes without dribbling.

They have eight more days to prepare for the next round, leaving the arena around midnight to return to Boston. Brown’s bags weigh a little more, thanks to his Eastern Conference Finals MVP trophy – named after Celtics great Larry Bird.

“I think I’m one of the best wingers and point guards in this game. I thought this year I had leveled up and increased. I took the matchup, got guys full court, chased guys off screens, fought with the bigs and I feel like I should have been All-Defense,” Brown said.

His block on Andrew Nembhard with 1:05 left was only surpassed by his dish on the next possession, drawing a crowd in the paint, before the All-Star finished off the game-winning assist to White in the right corner.

“I like being just a versatile, two-way wing and I can do both at any time,” Brown said, “and in the last four minutes of this game, you saw that.”

He scored 10 in the final frame, finishing with a team-high 29 points. Tatum added 26 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists, earning four of the other nine media votes for the MVP award. These two stars grew from boys to men to playoff prospects, step by step. Now, more than ever, they seem ready to finally cross the finish line together.