The day before the start of the conference finals, Celtics point guard Marcus Smart was downplaying his team’s chances in its rematch with the Cavaliers. “The underdog is us,” said Smart, whose team had the second-best record in the East and homecourt advantage in the series. It’s a card the 24-year-old planned to use to his advantage. “The one thing about underdogs,” Smart continued, “is you have to fear them, because they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. This is a David-and-Goliath matchup.”
Twenty-four hours later it was less clear who was David and who was Goliath.