Boston Celtics NBA Finals: 'I Know The City's Going To Be Behind Us'

BOSTON — The Celtics have faced long odds several times this season and always found a way to keep winning and keep their NBA championship hopes alive.

With one more loss in the NBA Finals meaning the end to the drive for Banner 18, several players struck a defiant tone in the face of elimination as they look forward to being back at TD Garden for Game 6 Thursday (9 p.m.).

"Your faith's got to be at an all-time high," Celtics guard Jaylen Brown said following Boston's 104-94 loss at Golden State to trail 3-2 in the best-of-seven series Monday night. "Our faith has got to be there, play as a team, as a unit.

"It's win or go home at this point. We've worked hard all season to put ourselves in this position. I still feel like we have so much more better basketball to play that we haven't played the last two games. I'm hoping the next two games we can play Celtic basketball and we put our best foot forward."

Brown said he knows "the city's going to be behind us" as the team returns to the parquet after back-to-back playoff losses for the first time this postseason.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said there will be an outdoor "watch party" Thursday night at Fenway Park. The event is free, but will require registration here.

Wu declined to have a watch party for Game 5, citing the limited turnaround time after Boston hosted an outdoor event at Copley Square Park for Friday night's Game 4.

The Celtics came back from a season on the brink when they were 18-21 and staring down at the NBA Lottery in January, when they were down 3-2 and won two straight games against the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks and when they faced a Game 7 on the road against the top-seeded Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.

"This is the time that we look at each other in the eyes and we've got to figure it out," Celtics 15-year veteran center Al Horford said. "We have an opportunity now and we've got to figure it out.

"There's no tomorrow for us."

If the Celtics do win Game 6 Thursday night, however, there will be a Sunday night Game 7 in San Francisco for them with everything on the line.

"You'd better be confident, right?" Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said. "We ain't got to win two in one day. We've just got to win Thursday.

"We've been in this situation before. So it's not over. We've just got to win on Thursday. That's all we've got to worry about right now."

While some fan confidence may be shaken after a 2-1 NBA Finals lead turned into a 3-2 deficit against the three-time champion Warriors, interest in watching the last home game of the year at TD Garden remains sky-high.

Balcony tickets for Game 6 start at $525 on the secondary market, according to Ace Ticket, while courtside seats are running as high as $21,500 as of Wednesday morning.

Here is the remaining schedule for the 2022 NBA Finals:

Game 1 — Boston 120, at Golden State 108

Game 2 — At Golden State 107, Boston 88

Game 3 — At Boston 116, Golden State 100

Game 4 — Golden State 107, at Boston 97

Game 5 — at Golden State 104, Boston 94

Game 6 — Golden State at Boston, Thursday, June 16, 9 p.m.

Game 7 (if necessary) — Boston at Golden State, Sunday, June 19, 8 p.m.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)