Boston Celtics not intimidated heading into NBA Finals showdown with Golden State Warriors: 'We know what we're here to play for'

SAN FRANCISCO — The Boston Celtics may be back in the NBA Finals for the first time in more than a decade, but first-year coach Ime Udoka said that is no cause for celebration.

«We're not hanging a banner [for that] here,» Udoka said, referring to winning the Eastern Conference. It's a bigger picture. «I think guys' mindsets have flipped pretty quickly.

»Enjoy it. Guys relish that, and you have this time off. Even [Sunday] night in the media sessions [after Game 7], and obviously with us in the locker room, guys are already talking about what's next and the bigger picture at hand.

«This isn't what we came to do. You enjoy it and move on pretty quickly to the task at hand.»

That task, of course, is finding a way to beat the Golden State Warriors, who won three championships and made five straight trips to the NBA Finals from 2014-19 before missing the playoffs each of the past two seasons.

As a result, Golden State enters this series with 123 games of collective NBA Finals experience. Boston, on the other hand, doesn't have a single player on its roster that has appeared in a Finals game.

Udoka, however, said he isn't concerned about the experience gap, pointing to the experience he and his assistant coaches have in Finals, including assistant Ben Sullivan winning a title with the Milwaukee Bucks last year and Udoka himself winning a title having coached in multiple Finals with the San Antonio Spurs, and the amount of playoff experience his players have.

«I can say, being there, I know what's going on and we've already shared some of those stories as well as some of the other coaches on my staff that have been there and won championships,» Udoka said. «So from that standpoint, it is what it is. We'll have some meetings