THE QUEST FOR BANNER 18 ROLLS ON AFTER THE CELTICS TAKE GAME 6!!!

Adam Hagy. Getty Images.

Annnnnnnnnd exhale. 

Man was that shit stressful. Certainly more stressful than they needed to be, but these are our Celtics. This is why we love them and hate them all within the span of 2.5 hours. They are going to make you earn this feeling you have right now. You know what I'm talking about. It's more relief than joy, but whatever. In the playoffs it's not how you win the race to 4 wins, it's just being the first one. Win ugly, win by blowout I don't give a shit. This time of year is about stacking wins and that's what this team did.

It's poetic how the fact that they were even in this game was their disaster 6 minutes in Game 5 led by horrendous play from Tatum/Smart/Jaylen and the way they won Game 6 was an incredible final 6 minutes led by awesome play from Tatum/Smart/Jaylen. For the last like 48 hours the haters and losers of which there are still many cried and cried that Marcus Smart closes games. Hey guess what? He basically won them this game. Huge buckets, good defense and even better decision making with the ball late. Joe adjusted by putting him at the nail once the Hawks started doubling and as we know, once he gets into the paint you should trust him with your life. Great decisions, patience, and execution. That's how you win in the clutch.

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On a night where they played zero defense for 42 minutes, once again couldn't rebound to save their lives, when it came to lock in and step on some the Hawks throat, that's what we saw. They kept taking blows every time it looked like maybe they were going to build some separation, and they didn't back down in the moment. With so much talk about how the Celts don't learn from their mistakes, it sure as shit looked like they learned from their clutch time play in Game 5. As this team usually does, it bounced back.

Quickly, how about Al. What a massive ending for him after being a nonfactor all night and honestly struggling this entire series

Big shots, huge blocks, big rebounds late, that's the Al this team will need moving forward. If he can also find his shot again that would be great, because he's going to be very important against the Sixers.

So here we go. Sixers vs Boston for a trip to the ECF on the line. Who knows what Embiid is going to look like with a sprained knee, but who cares. Approach it as if he's still the same MVP caliber player. The Celts now have homecourt throughout the entire playoffs, so they need to take advantage and keep playing focused basketball. Don't assume shit, don't disrespect the opponent and play the way we all know you can play. We know the formula that works, it's now just about executing.

The goal is not 4 wins. The goal is 16. Bring on Monday.

LOVE AND FUCKING TRUST.