BOSTON (AP) — The Celtics took the 76ers' best punches in the first three quarters of their Game 5 matchup with Philadelphia.
Then everything fell apart for Boston.
The Celtics carried an 86-85 lead into the final period before being outscored 28-11 over the final 12 minutes of their 113-97 loss Tuesday night.
It cut Boston’s series lead to 3-2, with Game 6 set for Thursday in Philadelphia.
“Just not good enough overall from the Celtics tonight,” said
Jaylen Brown, who finished with 22 points on 9-of-23 shooting. “The result was the result. But we’ve got to move on.”
Boston moved the ball well in the first half but relied on 3-pointers down the stretch, seemingly unwilling to challenge 76ers big man Joel Embiid at the rim. The Celtics were stagnant in the half court, leading to frequent isolation plays as the Sixers built their lead.
Boston connected on 3 of 22 field goals (13.6%) in the final period. And after knocking down 24 3-pointers in Game 4 to set a franchise record for 3s in a playoff game, the Celtics went 11 of 39 (28.2%) on Tuesday night.
Jayson Tatum, who finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds, said fixing the Celtics' problems must start on the defensive end.
“A few looks that we got that we felt good about that we just didn’t make. Sometimes that happens,” Tatum said. “It’s just tough. When you’re not scoring the way you want to, it puts pressure on the defense. And they made plays on that end.”
Meanwhile, the 76ers hit 15 3s and scored 12 points off the Celtics’ 12 turnovers.
Boston got within 97-94 on an alley-oop dunk by Neemias Queta. The Sixers responded with a 12-0 run to put it away.
The Celtics didn’t score their 10th point of the fourth quarter until Brown hit his second free throw with 2:16 remaining, ending a scoreless stretch of nearly five minutes.
Coach Joe Mazzulla pulled his starters with 1:33 left.
“I think when you have empty possession, empty possession, and you’re not getting stops, it’s frustrating,” he said.
Brown is confident that Boston will be able to fix its issues. He expects nobody to panic.
“No need to put any extra pressure on ourselves,” he said. “There’s enough of that as it is.”
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