One might say it wasn't supposed to end like this. Not with Jayson Tatum suffering one of the most concerning injuries for an athlete -- though there is hope on that front. Not with being on the wrong end of a 119-81 blowout at the hands of the New York Knicks as the crowd at Madison Square Garden seranaded themselves with Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York," and hurled an expletive-driven chant at Boston.
Joe Mazzulla disagrees.
"This is the price you pay for trying to go after something, and this is how it goes," the Celtics' bench boss reminded everyone after a Game 6 that ends the reigning champions' season.
"You step into the arena, that's how it goes," stated Mazzulla. "You can't expect it to go your way, you can't expect it to go the way you want it all the time."
That doesn't take the sting out of it.
"Losing to the Knicks feels like death," Jaylen Brown told Hardwood Houdini. "But I was always taught that there's life after death. So, we'll get ready for whatever's next. Whatever's next in the journey, I'll be ready for [it]."
Celtics' season-ending loss crystallized their character-reinforcing win
Boston's 38-point loss in Game 6 at the world's most famous arena is the franchise's third-most lopsided loss in a playoff contest, per StatMuse.
According to NBC Sports Boston's stats guru, Dick Lipe, the Celtics' 27-point halftime deficit is their second largest in a playoff tilt.
Those statistical nuggets capture this team's reality: they ran out of gas.
Wednesday's 127-102 Game 5 win, a victory their fan base begged for, wasn't a sign of this series legitimately being up for grabs. It was the championship resolve of a prideful, high-character group, mustering the strength to land one more haymaker before the inevitable counterpunch.
"I just love playing with the guys that we have in that locker room," Derrick White expressed after Boston's season-ending loss. "Just a great group of guys that compete at a high level. Off [of] the court, we have a lot of fun," he continued. "That's what I'll probably be the most proud of is, being be able to say that I put on a Boston Celtics uniform with an amazing group of people."
"I told the guys in the locker room after the game, it's one of the honors of my life to be able to coach this group of guys," said Mazzulla. "It's an honor to be able to share a locker room with them, and be next to them on the court, and be in the arena with them. So, I'm grateful for that, and to me it shows who they are as people and who they are as players."
The Celtics didn't win a second straight NBA title, and they won't become the first team to lift the Larry O'Brien Trophy and advance past the second round the following year since the 2019 Golden State Warriors.
However, it's a championship group Boston can be proud of for their achievements on the court and their impact in the city they star in.