Al Horford: Celtics 'Failed Because We Wanted to Win a Championship' After Heat Loss
The Boston Celtics laid an egg Monday night, coming out flat and never correcting in a 103-84 loss to the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals.
"We failed. We failed because we wanted to win a championship," Celtics forward-center Al Horford said after the game, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic. "That was our goal. But despite that, I'm very proud of that group because there was never any excuse. We went through ups and downs, but we stuck with it. So right now I feel like we want solutions and sometimes you kind of have to step back and look at the work and that's just not going to happen right now in the heat of the moment."
The Celtics were attempting to become the first team in NBA history to recover from a 3-0 deficit to advance in the playoffs. They were just the fourth team in league history to dig themselves out of the hole and force a Game 7—and the first to get to play that deciding game at home.
Unfortunately, Boston ran out of gas. The offense sputtered its way to a 15-point first quarter and never recovered, with the Celtics shooting just 39.0 percent from the floor overall and a ghastly 9-of-42 from three-point range.
Jaylen Brown was the worst player on the floor for stretches, shooting 8-of-23 from the floor and turning the ball over eight times. Jayson Tatum turned his ankle in the opening seconds and said he was a "shell of [himself]" after the game.
"We got punked," Celtics forward Grant Williams told Tim Bontemps of ESPN. "We didn't play our game from start to finish. Defensively, we just lost it all, and then offensively we were scrambled and trying to do everything ourselves and just didn't go our way.
"You hate to have that be the end of your season, especially with the fight that we've shown. But shots didn't fall either, so that didn't help ... it's just tough."
In the end, it was Miami that made history, becoming just the second No. 8 seed in NBA history and first play-in team to reach the Finals.
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