The date was Sept. 26, 2019. Celtics coach Brad Stevens had his almost entirely new roster gathered.
He was imparting the core values that would compose his roster’s identity: Defensive communication. Closing out with purpose, Attacking early on offense. These were the foundations of the Stevens-era Celtics.
There’s a reason they have bucked conventional wisdom that defenses can’t affect deep shooting on the aggregate to be a top 3-point defensive team year-in, year-out. But all those virtues have seemed to fly out the window in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat, as the Celtics have been fighting to find Celtics basketball. So it was no surprise in Game 5 on Friday to see the second half begin with another clunky Marcus Smart fumbled drive that ended with a contested Jaylen Brown 3 clanking off the rim.
Boston continued to trot along in a perfunctory malaise until an opportunity presented itself when Brown ran out after a…
