Terry indicated he doesn’t expect to play any differently Wednesday because of J.R. Smith’s return.
WALTHAM – Not one to avoid a verbal sparring session, Boston Celtics guard Jason Terry responded to Kenyon Martin’s claim that the New York Knicks should wear “funeral colors” to Wednesday night’s Game 5 – an obvious reference to the fact that Martin expects New York to end the series.
“I thought they wore that last game, too,” Terry said before Tuesday’s practice. “For us, it doesn't change. Whether they wear white, pink, blue, black, green, it's Game 7 for us. So, we know what mindset we have to be in. You lose, you're going home."
Terry indicated he doesn’t expect to play any differently Wednesday because of J.R. Smith’s return. The Knicks wing served a one-game suspension in Game 4 for elbowing Terry in the face.
“We really don't care how they're going to be,” said Terry. “It's more about us and how we approach the game. Whoever's in uniform for them, so be it. We have to come out – again, it’s (like) Game 7. It's every possession, it's every shot, every defensive stop. It means that much. If you come in with that approach, you're going to put yourself in a position to win.”
“I'm just feeding off the fact that I don't want to go home right now,” he added. “I feel like we have a lot of basketball left with this particular group. If we win, we get another opportunity to come back here and play another game.”
In his first comments to the media since his suspension, Smith claimed not to know of Terry’s existence.
“Who?” he asked reporters Tuesday. “I don’t know who that is.”
If he had played during Game 4, Smith said, he would have been playing golf on Tuesday – in other words, he believes Boston never would have forced Game 5.
But the Celtics extended their season with an overtime win – during which the player Smith never heard of scored his team's final nine points – and say they will have a “Game 7” mentality the rest of the series.
“Listen, it's like I told them. What's the difference between being down 0-3 and being in a Game 7? It's no different,” said head coach Doc Rivers. “It's an elimination game. The difference is your mindset. In a Game 7, you're thinking let's win it to win it. When you're down 0-3, you never know, you may have a couple guys making vacation plans or not thinking you can do it.”
"Game 7's and all-outs are just what they are, the last opportunity to survive," added Kevin Garnett. "The mentality can't be anything different."