PHILADELPHIA — Jaylen Brown
gripped the basketball and tapped it against his forehead in frustration.Hugo Gonzalez, who typically springs off the Celtics bench at the beginning of every timeout, tried to high-five Brown with his usual, 20-year-old jubilance.
But, as Gonzalez’s hand slapped Brown’s, the Celtics star looked stunned, seemingly still processing a performance that was far below the high standard he set in his All-NBA-caliber season.
In Brown’s 28 minutes on the floor in Game 6, the Celtics
were outscored by 24 points. He made just 7 of 17 field goal attempts and turned the ball over five times (two of which came off of offensive fouls).
The result was a 106-93 Celtics loss.
Brown, alongside the rest of the Celtics starters, checked out of the game with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
He then watched a Celtics bench unit — headlined by Payton Pritchard, Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman, Ron Harper Jr., and Luka Garza — play at a pace, and with a fervor the Celtics couldn’t muster throughout the first three quarters.
“They just played harder,” Brown said afterwards. “That group came out — they were able to cut into the league because they played harder. The group before that, we didn’t play hard enough.”
The bench mob shed 9 points off the deficit, but it wasn’t enough.
The Celtics’ season will depend on a win-or-go-home Game 7 at TD Garden.
How the Celtics reacted to a Game 6 defeat
When I entered the Celtics’ locker room on Thursday night, I was expecting to see a grieving locker room, one cognizant that they had squandered a 3-1 lead, one that knew that the tides had completely turned.
But, while the visiting locker room was not a jovial place, it also wasn’t defeated.
Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, and Payton Pritchard stood in the corner in towels, discussing what went wrong and how they could fix it in the next 48 hours.
That conversation went on to include Baylor Scheierman.
“Game 7,” Brown said to the trio. “We need every rebound.”
Then, about 20 minutes later, at the podium, Brown was calm.
Multiple times, he acknowledged he hadn’t played well enough. That he’d have to adjust ahead of Game 7.
“There’s definitely some stuff I see that I can improve,” Brown said.
And, he was far more optimistic than I expected him to be after such a squandered opportunity.
“All things considered, we’re in a great spot going home for a Game 7,” Brown said. “I’m expecting a great atmosphere, and expecting a great fight from our group. The last two games wasn’t the best, but you move on. So I’m looking forward to it — and I’m excited for Game 7.”
In the locker room, Pritchard echoed that sentiment. I asked him if there was a way to fight the reality that they were up 3-1 and lost two straight, that Philadelphia had all the momentum.
“It means nothing,” Pritchard said. “It’s one game. It’s like the NCAA Tournament — gotta win one or go home. So, it’s the only thing on our mind.”
The Celtics are going to need to fight the current, the natural flow of momentum Philadelphia is carrying, fight the reality that they were just a good third quarter away from securing the series in five games.
“Whatever happened has happened, and nothing you can do about it,” Mazzulla said. “At the end of the day, we got another game. And, we got to be ready to play. And we got an opportunity to win.”
It may help that they’ve been there before; Jaylen Brown is 6-2 in Game 7s throughout his career, and Jayson Tatum is 5-2.
“A lot of us have been in this situation before, Game 7,” Tatum said. “So, it should be a fun one.”
Celtics-76ers tips off at 7:30pm ET at TD Garden. It’ll serve as one final chance to right the ship.
“We got to respond,” Brown said. “[It] might take a deep breath, look at what we got, watch the film, take accountability, and come out and play with a great fight.”
