Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka had some major praise for his team after its win in Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
Udoka called the Celtics a “complete team,” and he took a bit of a shot at the Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks in the process. The Celtics eliminated each of those three teams in the playoffs, and Udoka explained that those teams are reliant on stars while the Celtics are not.
Ime Udoka: "We look at ourselves as a unit. A complete team. We look at the other teams, Brooklyn with Durant, Bucks with Antetokounmpo, Miami with Butler. We pride ourselves on being a team that plays together."
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 3, 2022
The Celtics took down Jimmy Butler and the Heat in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals, and Udoka’s comments do make some sense.
The Heat relied heavily on Butler’s scoring in the playoffs, especially in the Eastern Conference Finals with Tyler Herro injured.
Boston, on the other hand, was able to take Game 1 of the NBA Finals despite All-Star Jayson Tatum scoring just 12 points in the game. The Celtics got contributions up and down their roster, as Al Horford (26 points), Jaylen Brown (24 points), Marcus Smart (18 points) and Derrick White (21 points) all helped pick up the slack against the Warriors.
Boston is now just three games away from winning an NBA title, and it’s clear that Udoka believes his team has the make up to get it done.
While the Heat, Bucks and Nets were unable to knock off the Celtics, each team was missing a key player due to injury in the series. Miami lost Herro for multiple games, the Nets were without Ben Simmons, and the Bucks didn’t have second-leading scorer Khris Middleton for the entire series against Boston.
Still, the Celtics have bought into what Udoka is preaching and they have made the most of their playoff run so far.
