Marcus Smart was the cost of “something needed to change”

Photo by Eric Espada/NBAE via Getty ImagesSomething needs to change.

That’s the thought that kept coming to my mind during Game 7 of the Heat series (and honestly, well before that). Like most, I couldn’t quite put my finger on any one glaring thing. The Boston Celtics team that appeared in the Finals one year and the Eastern Conference Finals the next year was clearly talented. Anything less than a championship would have been disappointing and so when they fell short, we all were appropriately disappointed.

There was something either fundamentally missing or something that was once there but faded over time. I don’t think it was a “lack of heart” or “bad chemistry” or any other such tired…