2022 NBA Finals: Our defeat will hurt for a while-Boston Celtics coach Udoka

The Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics 103-90 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals Wednesday night to win their fourth title in eight years. 

After the game, Celtics head coach Nigerian Ime Udoka said, 

"It's going to hurt. It will hurt for a while. Probably that stuff never goes away. I've lost one before. That was part of the message. Let it propel us forward, the experience. Growth and progress that we made this season. Obviously, getting to your ultimate goal and fall a few games short is going to hurt. There are a lot of guys in there, very emotional right now.

"The message was we thanked them for the effort and the growth and everything they allowed us to do coaching-wise this year. The biggest message was learn from this, grow from it, take this experience and see there is another level to get to. A team like Golden State who has been there, done that. It was evident in a lot of ways. Just don't come back the same as players, coaching staff. Let this fuel you throughout the offseason into next year."

Speaking on how the Golden State capitalized on their turnovers Udoka said.

"Well, they did what they did. Rotation-wise, they are very consistent with where they're at. Don't make a lot of mistakes. I'm sure as our turnovers piled up throughout the series, if you look across the playoffs, it was an area of emphasis. You could pretty much look at the box score and see if we won or lost based on a few things. Them being consistent, more so I'm sure in that locker room they're saying be solid, be solid, get in your spots, they'll give it to you in some sense.

"Our thing is we had guys growing and learning to be playmakers, look for their own scoring. That's the next phase of it, is seeing different defenses and being solid against that. Once again, you look at the numbers, they get 103 on the night. Give them 20-plus on turnovers, 20-plus on second-chance points. Don't really give ourselves a chance as far as that. They're a solid team, a championship team that has been there. I think it's six out of eight years. You can see the consistency on that side, what they did with us, turning us over."

Udoka also spoke on the off-season program for Robert Williams,

"Strengthening his body, that's the main thing in general. We said it coming into the season. He had his highest minutes per game this year. We wanted him to be able to play longer stretches. I think he achieved a lot of things and had a lot of growth on the court.

"But a big part is taking care of your body and staying available. Obviously, had to strengthen up his legs, build all the muscle around it to protect his knees. But what I did tell him also was credit for playing through what he did and giving it a go, being out there for us. Now it's time to rest up, heal up, be ready for next season and come back in better shape, better than you were this year coming into the season."

On what he wants Jayson Tatum to take away from the finals, 

"Yeah, learn and understand who he is in this league. You're an All-Star, All-NBA First Team guy for a reason. This is only the start of how you're going to be guarded and the attention you're going to draw. One thing that he's always done throughout the season was seeing multiple different coverages and figured it out. He did that throughout the first few series. This was one a rough one. Very consistent team that did some things to limit him and make others pay.

"For him, it's just continuing to grow and understand you're going to see this the rest of your career. This is just a start. The growth he showed as a playmaker this year and in certain areas, I think this is the next step for him. Figuring that out, getting to where some of the veterans are that have seen everything and took their lumps early in their careers. Like I said, very motivated guy that works extremely hard, high IQ, intelligent guy that will learn from this and figure it out. I think it will propel him to go forward, definitely motivate him."

For Udoka the team takeaway was "Yeah, we learned a tremendous amount about each other as a staff and them learning what we wanted and vice versa. That's the message to the guys tonight. This is just the start. A foundation has been set. We can kind of hit the ground running next year. Let's get healthy and all be on the same page. I think he's absolutely right where we kind of expedited the process of some of the things we wanted to do. Now it's a matter of taking that next step.

"What I did say to the group was there are levels. You can see the difference in Golden State, a team that's been there, been together for a long time. The core group, it's been 10 years now. We've seen what we can achieve. It hurts we fell short of that. But what I did say is the future is bright and we're just getting started, so let's all come back better from this experience."

Speaking how the loss will motivate the team in future "Yeah, I think not playing our best, probably playing our worst overall series is motivation enough. We have very highly motivated guys that didn't play their best, honestly. We're all going to grind away in the summer, improve in certain ways. I think the biggest part for us is the IQ section. That's where we saw a huge difference in consistency with us and Golden State, just the little things that experience only can teach you. For us, that's the message.

"Obviously, losing on a buzzer-beater against Ray Allen when I was in San Antonio will kind of fuel you throughout a whole season. But this was a little bit different. We improved in a lot of areas, but fell short of our ultimate goal. Some guys didn't play their best. That's going to motivate guys throughout the season. Like I said, the message is everybody come back better. Let's not be satisfied. It's not guaranteed you're going to be here. The East is getting tougher every year. They'll come back better. We will as a staff as well."