The Boston Celtics haven’t learned their lesson. Instead of preparing for a second-round series against the New York Knicks, they’re boarding a flight back home to host the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7.
On Thursday night, the Celtics fell to the Sixers, 106-93, squandering their second chance to close out Philadelphia after taking a commanding 3-1 series lead. With an offense that has lost its identity and a defense unable to contain Joel Embiid’s postseason resurgence, Boston is down to its third
and final chance to avoid one of the most catastrophic collapses in its franchise’s history.
The demons that have tormented the Sixers for years — and haunted Joel Embiid — no longer linger in Philadelphia’s locker room. This is now on the Celtics. They lost home-court advantage, failed twice to close out the series, and find themselves in a familiar position Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown know all too well.
“A lot of us have been in this situation before, Game 7,” Tatum told reporters at Xfinity Mobile Arena, per CLNS Media. “So it should be a fun one.”
During the NBA’s pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the Celtics found themselves pushed to seven games in the semifinals against the Toronto Raptors after taking a 2-0 series lead. In 2023, they allowed an inferior Atlanta Hawks team to take them to six games in the first round, then lost in seven to a 43-39 Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. Last year, they twice squandered 20-point leads at home just before Tatum ruptured his right Achilles tendon in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden.
For the better part of nine years, Tatum and Brown have battled their track record as leaders of a team addicted to inviting chaos.
The fourth quarter of Game 5 and the third quarter of Game 6 don’t suggest Philadelphia was the better team. That overlooks the issue entirely. Those frames exposed Boston as a team once again, lacking the killer instinct that they had in the regular season. They held an 86-85 lead to start the fourth quarter in Game 5 and shot 3-of-22 from the field (13.6 percent), scoring just 11 points. In Game 6, they scored 14 points in the third quarter while shooting 6-of-22 from the field (26.1 percent).
That’s not the norm, as both quarters rank among their lowest-scoring stretches since Opening Night — first and third lowest, respectively.
“Our intentions are good,” Tatum said. “We want to go out there and play the right way and win. It’s just, we just got to be a little bit more together, a little bit tougher. Play with more pace, play faster. You know, how they have played majority of the season and since I’ve been back. It’s just kind of getting back to who we are.”
Tatum exited the game with 4:03 left in the third quarter. He rode a stationary bike before returning to Boston’s bench and did not return for the remainder of Game 6. After the loss, he clarified that leg stiffness was the reason for his exit and said he expects to be ready for Game 7.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla turned to the team’s reserves, giving Payton Pritchard, Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, Luka Garza, and Ron Harper Jr. the entire fourth quarter. That group showed more life than the starters had since the second quarter of Game 5, outperforming Boston’s previous five frames. They shot 48 percent from the floor against Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and V.J. Edgecombe, and sparked an 11-0 run to cut Philadelphia’s lead down to 12 points with 7:40 left in regulation.
For a moment, it was an encouraging (yet temporary) shift. But ultimately, it still wasn’t enough.
Embiid and the Sixers never felt threatened because the Celtics hadn’t solved a single issue that kept them from advancing at home in Game 5. Derrick White missed two floaters six feet away from the rim, then argued with officials after a clear double dribble call, all in the first quarter. Neemias Queta again ran into foul trouble, picking up three with more than five minutes left before halftime, including two while Embiid was on the bench. Boston’s inefficiency even showed up at the charity stripe, as Tatum and Brown combined to miss six free throws, adding to a damaged offense that’s hanging by a thread.
Brown, who played over 28 minutes in Game 6, picked up his 10th offensive foul of the series. That accounts for nearly half of Boston’s 23 offensive fouls, the most of any team this postseason.
For the first time since opening the season 0-3 in October, the Celtics are staring at a potential second three-game losing streak. Only this one would end their championship aspirations for good if they come out as the same sloppy, uninspired group that’s allowed the Sixers to batter them around over the past two games.
“We can’t let that happen in the next game,” Brown admitted to reporters, per CLNS Media. “We gotta be the harder playing team.”
Saturday night will be the ninth Game 7 between Boston and Philadelphia, the most of any playoff rivalry in NBA history. Historically, the Celtics have won six of the previous eight. But it’ll take a massive turnaround on all fronts to prevent the Sixers from eliminating Boston from the postseason for the first time since 1982.
“All things considered, we’re in a great spot going home for a Game 7,” Brown said. “Expecting a great atmosphere. Expecting a great fight from our group. 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.”
Through their own doing, the Celtics have brought themselves to a point they never should have reached. There’s a difference between a lesson and one that’s been nearly a decade in the making without much improvement. They keep putting themselves in this spot time and time again, all while expecting a different result. That’s not growth, nor does it fall in line with the process of learning. At some point, it’s simply an underachievement.
Boston’s bench brought more to the table than its starters, and that’s nearly impossible to overcome in the playoffs. The Sixers entered the series as the underdog, missing Embiid for the first three games. In response, the Celtics displayed the urgency of a team waiting for Philadelphia to slip up rather than a team determined to chase after the series clincher themselves. It’s nothing new, and in the past, it’s only led to their season’s end.
During their 2024 championship run, the Celtics suffered only three losses. After each one, they responded with urgency and a win. That’s the difference between a team ready for the next stage and one setting itself up for failure.
They could still very easily put the Sixers away in seven, but at what cost? Fatigue is a real factor in the playoffs, as is momentum. The Knicks just eliminated the Hawks by scoring 140 points while watching the Celtics grapple to compete. New York is a much greater challenge than Philadelphia, meaning the margin for error wouldn’t be what it’s been in the first round if Boston does make it out. The Knicks are stronger, healthier, and have bragging rights. They know what it takes to outplay the Celtics.
For Boston, there’s no safety net. That’s gone. The Celtics have to be at their best or at least very, very close to it on Saturday night. They can praise Embiid and Philadelphia all they want, but that’s not the deciding factor that has extended this series. It’s the result of falling into bad habits that have long left this team hanging their heads in disappointment, and facing the same postgame questions about decisions and improvements that should have been made.
They were the superior team throughout the regular season, and through no fault but their own, they have become a watered-down version of themselves.
That hasn’t been enough to get away with in Games 5 and 6, and it won’t work in Game 7.
The bottom line is the Celtics need to approach Saturday night determined to make a statement. Because through the first six games, it doesn’t seem like Tatum and Brown have graduated in ways their 2024 championship suggested. They were given a pass last year under extreme circumstances, and although a talent-depleted roster did make it harder at the start of the season, we’re 88 games deep with this group.
The Celtics weren’t lucky. They earned each of their 56 regular-season wins to lock the No. 2 seed in the East. Any leniency for integrating the offseason’s additions expired long ago, and it doesn’t excuse their fumbles at the goal line. This is completely on them.
“We have an opportunity for Game 7 at home, and there’s been great teams, great players that have played in Game 7s, and it’s part of the journey,” Mazzulla told reporters, per CLNS Media. “We didn’t play well tonight. We’ll move on to the next game.”
In their 79 years of existence, the Celtics have never blown a 3-1 series lead. That possibility is now staring them in the face.
