Jayson Tatum Says He Knew The Celtics Were Going To Win The Title Once The Nuggets Were Eliminated

For pretty much the entire 2023-24 NBA season, it felt like we were on a crash course to an NBA Finals showdown between the Denver Nuggets and the Boston Celtics. After the Celts unfortunately choked away Game 7 of the 2023 ECF at home and we were robbed of that matchup in the 2023 Finals, given how dominant both teams were during the year it felt inevitable that those two teams were going to meet up in June to finally battle it out. No more "what ifs" when it came to the 2023 Nuggets run, this was going to be our chance to see arguably the two best teams in the league battle it out for the Larry O'Brien trophy.

Of course, that is not what happened. People forget, but the Nuggets had their own playoff disaster, blowing a 20 point lead in Game 7 at home to the Wolves. Frankly, I'm not sure why the Nuggets (and Jokic really) get such a pass for that performance, but oh well. The Wolves' comeback was epic and they rightfully earned their spot in the WCF

You'll remember that once the Wolves pulled this off, the entire basketball world immediately crowned them as the soon-to-be champs. They took down Jokic, and they were a solid team all season. The Wolves became the latest media darling and Anthony Edwards was crowned as Michael Jordan. 

Meanwhile, the actual eventual champion Celtics had been doing the same thing we'd seen since October, which was destroying anything and everyone in their path. But because it's the Celtics, nobody wanted to believe that they were actually going to win the title. Don't let the revisionist history we're now seeing after the fact fool you. First it was Denver, then it was Minnesota, then it was Dallas. It didn't matter who the team in the West was, they were all picked over the Celts when it came to winning the title, despite what was starting everyone in the face for 8+ months.

You know who didn't think that? Jayson Tatum. In fact, according to him, he knew the Celts were going to win the title the second the clock hit 0.0 and the Nuggets were sent packing

Now, whenever we get a quote like this I think it's important to remember one key fact. As the champs, you are allowed to say whatever the hell you want. Maybe it's true, maybe it's bullshit, but as a rule, when you become the champion, you're allowed to talk all the shit you want. Seeing as how the Celts wrapped up the Finals in 5 games and the Mavs were without a doubt the easiest matchup the Celts faced in their title run, I'm inclined to believe Tatum here. 

In both of the DEN/BOS matchups, we saw just how competitive a potential Finals were going to be. There was only 1 team in the entire NBA to sweep the season series against the Celts last year, and that was the Nuggets. There was the 102-100 win in their first matchup, and the 115-109 win in the second. Both games pretty much came down to a final shot in the 4th quarter, and aside from having the best player on the planet, what made those battles so much fun was how evenly matched up the two teams were. As we know, once you get to the playoffs it's all about matchups. It's how the Mavs were able to handle the Wolves, but didn't stand a chance against the Celts from the opening tip. To beat the Celtics your roster needs to be able to make 3s, have length on the perimeter to handle the Jays, and you need good point of attack defense. The 2023-24 Nuggets checked a lot of those boxes, and then had their own unstoppable force in Jokic that basically got whatever he wanted whenever he wanted against the Celts' bigs. 

While I'm sure there will be some who drag Tatum for that comment considering he gets dragged for literally everything he does, this isn't even all that hot of a take. Michael Porter Jr essentially said the exact same thing when talking about playing the Heat in the 2023 Finals last year

because deep down they know the deal as well. The Celts were a completely different caliber of matchup for them, and they were fortunate to avoid that series. Same shit is true for the Celts this year. The Nuggets are a completely different animal than the Mavs, and it would have been a much more competitive Finals had they gotten there. But unfortunately, they choked in that Game 7 at home, which is the beauty of sports. Nothing is guaranteed, especially in a playoff series. 

Who knows, maybe the 2024-25 season is the year we get to see this potential matchup in a Finals. Entering the season, the Celts certainly have the expectations of not only getting back to the Finals, but winning another ring. As the Nuggets showed us, that's certainly not easy, and they enter the season with a bunch of questions ranging from Jamal Murray's health to the inexperienced bench that will have to step up if the Nuggets want to go on another deep run.

In the short term, these two teams face off in a little less than two weeks in Abu Dhabi for a little preseason appetizer, and something tells me those games are going to be awesome. Whether or not it'll be a Finals preview is what we'll have to wait to find out.