{"id":1908632,"date":"2026-04-29T10:00:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T07:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1908632"},"modified":"2026-04-29T10:00:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T07:00:50","slug":"heres-a-celtic-worry-in-an-nba-postseason-hinting-at-upsets-why-not-the-76ers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1908632","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s a Celtic worry: In an NBA postseason hinting at upsets, why not the 76ers?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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BOSTON \u2014 The bonus buzzkill that accompanies any loss by the Boston Celtics, particularly in the playoffs, is the ear-splitting referendum over the value, the purpose, the existence of the 3-point shot.<\/p>\n

And here we go again. The Celtics connected on just 11 of 39 3-point attempts in their 113-97 loss<\/a> to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night at TD Garden, which means this opening-round series that a lot of people thought would last just four games (hello there, me), and then five games (hello there again, me), is now headed back to Philly on Thursday night for Game 6.<\/p>\n

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But holding two-day discussions over 3-point shots is wasted breath. This is the modern-day NBA. And these are the Joe Mazzulla-coached Boston Celtics. Besides, as Mazzulla calmly put it after the game, \u201cWe missed layups too. I don\u2019t think it was necessarily from the 3\u2019s. \u2026<\/span> we just have to be able to bounce back from that. I think when you have empty possession, empty possession, and at the other end you\u2019re not getting stops, it\u2019s frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrustrating\u201d is being too kind to a team that turned lethargic and droopy in the third quarter, and then clanky and disorganized in the game\u2019s final minutes.<\/p>\n

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But tell you what: Rather than break down the game, let\u2019s break down the entire 2026 NBA postseason. Aside from the obvious, which is that the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder rolled the eighth-seeded Phoenix Suns in four straight games, what we have here is a tournament hungering for an upset or two or three. In the East, the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic have a 3-1 lead over the top-seeded Detroit Pistons. The No. 3 New York Knicks went into Game 5 against the No. 6 Atlanta Hawks tied 2-2 Tuesday night, but came out with an easy 126-97 victory<\/a>. For those hoping for a second-round rematch between the Knicks and Celtics, that\u2019s still in play.<\/p>\n

And out in the West, the No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves have a 3-2 lead over the No. 3 Denver Nuggets.<\/p>\n

In other words, the 76ers are simply skating their wing in this topsy-turvy tourney. And now they have Joel Embiid back after missing two weeks due to a health crisis that culminated with an appendectomy. Oh, and he\u2019s not just back. After some inconsistent play in Game 4, he\u2019s back in form. Do the 76ers need Embiid? Embiid, they do. And he scored 33 points in Game 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive him credit, he played well,\u201d said Jayson Tatum (24 points). \u201cHe put a lot of pressure on us, especially on the defensive end. We\u2019ll go back and watch the film and make some adjustments and be ready for Game 6.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jaylen Brown (22 points), meanwhile, sounded like a man who had already watched the film and, as such, already has some adjustments in mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I feel like he got too many easy baskets,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWe need to make him work. It\u2019s just too easy for him, even though we want to trust our guys to guard certain aspects, we have to make it\u00a0<\/span>a little tougher.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s fine, but Brown had similar thoughts after rookie VJ Edgecombe scored 30 points in the 76ers\u2019 111-97 victory in Game 2. Brown ladled out a nice compliment after that one, observing, \u201c\u2026 he\u2019s a ballplayer. He\u2019s a rookie, but he can play.\u201d But, Brown said, \u201cI thought Edgecombe was just too comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"76ers<\/p>\n
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\n 76ers fend off Celtics to avoid elimination, force Game 6: Takeaways\n <\/div>\n
\n The Sixers kept their season alive with a win Tuesday night to force Game 6 back home in Philadelphia.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

As the Celtics dutifully watch the film<\/em> in preparation for Game 6, it might serve them well to take a shot at figuring out why the 76ers have won two games in this series on the strength of two players, who, beyond their considerable skills, were very comfortable scoring points against them.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s just something in the spring air. The lesser lights of the NBA are winning playoff games to a degree that\u2019s very NHL-like, only without the hot goaltending. (Though there have been a few goaltending calls.) But the Celtics are certainly doing their part to help the 76ers along. Derrick White hit the second of two free throws about two minutes into the third quarter to give Boston a 13-point lead (63-50), but that\u2019s when it was the Celtics who got too comfortable. As in, they fell asleep. From that point on, they were outscored by the 76ers 63-34.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a human element,\u201d Tatum said. \u201cWe\u2019re not perfect. After each game, a win or a loss, there\u2019s a lot of things to look back on and talk about what we can do better. And tonight\u2019s no different.\u201d<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Celtics\u2019<\/p>\n
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\n Celtics\u2019 Brad Stevens wins NBA\u2019s Executive of the Year\n <\/div>\n
\n Brad Stevens wins the NBA’s top executive honors for the second time in three seasons.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s just that in the spring of 2026 in the NBA, everything is different. Teams that shouldn\u2019t advance think they can do just that. And while the 76ers are still down 3-2 in this series, they\u2019ve looked mighty comfortable getting there.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe just have to have an understanding and perspective,\u201d Mazzulla reasoned. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t all bad. We played solid basketball, but then there are things we have to get better at and be more consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n

What the Celtics need to understand, and the perspective they need to take into Game 6, is that they aren\u2019t going anywhere unless they can borrow a page out of old-timey muckraking journalism. The need to afflict the comfortable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BOSTON \u2014 The bonus buzzkill that accompanies any loss by the Boston Celtics, particularly in the playoffs, is the ear-splitting referendum over the value, the purpose, the existence of the 3-point shot. And here we go again. The Celtics connected on just 11 of 39 3-point attempts in their 113-97 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1908632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1908632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908632\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1908632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1908632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1908632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}