Marcus Smart opened up about the NBA Finals clash with the Golden State Warriors and how the Boston Celtics handled their 4-2 loss.
The star guard of the 17-time NBA champions didn’t want to lose the series, but admitted he and his teammates have learned a lot from their trip to the Finals and have gained significant experience ahead of the coming season.
“We have to take the lesson the hard way. We learned a lot out of our experience and unfortunately we had to lose to do that, but we now know what it takes to play, to be there, the stress it takes on you, mentally, physically, emotionally.
You kind of figure when and when not to be too excited about it, how to play it and how to keep yourself calm. It was a lot of factors that we’ve learned individually and as a group from this.
It’s tough to have to learn the hard way … it’s still fresh for us, so guys are really just trying to wait, but once we do start talking, we’ll get that out there, but right now we’re just giving ourselves a break,” Marcus Smart said, via CLNS Media.
The Celtics had an impressive run all the way to the NBA Finals, but the Warriors’ experience and depth proved to be the deciding factors in the series.
Boston aims for a second straight Finals run next season and the addition of Malcolm Brogdon has bolstered the second unit.
With Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown leading the way, the Celtics enter the season as the favorite to come out of the East as champions.
