Aside from getting posterized by the rookie Jayson Tatum in a defensive play during the second half—which had left Zhang feeling a little humiliated—everything else had gone perfectly.
That dunk had also made Tatum's name famous. Countless fans now knew who Jayson Tatum was.
One dunk had taken him from a name known mostly to Celtics fans to someone even non-basketball fans recognized.
The Man Who Posterized James
Tutu had also shot 9-for-17 and put up 24 points and 4 rebounds, living up to his billing as the team's future star.
Unfortunately, the Celtics had still lost. They had officially said goodbye to this season's Playoffs, heading home to fish even before the Rockets.
If they had to blame the Game 7 loss on anyone, it would probably be the team's other two core players, Jaylen Brown and Rozier.
Brown was still a little raw.
He had made just 5 of 18 shots, finishing with 13 points and 6 rebounds.
Of course, it didn't help that his teammate had made him look bad.
Rozier had been even worse, going 2-for-14 and putting up the ridiculous line of 4 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Those numbers could hardly be called lucky; they seemed to foreshadow the team's final fate.
But look on the bright side: Tatum was only a rookie, and Brown was only in his second year. They both had bright futures ahead of them.
Building around the Third Overall Pick twin stars, they had reached the Eastern Conference Finals in their first year and pushed their opponent to Game 7.
So making the Finals in year two and winning an NBA Championship in year three wouldn't be asking too much, right~~~
Even after losing Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Celtics fans didn't seem all that disappointed.