{"id":1908856,"date":"2026-04-29T10:00:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T07:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1908856"},"modified":"2026-04-29T10:00:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T07:00:24","slug":"celtics-add-to-their-reputation-as-a-team-that-loves-to-make-things-hard-on-itself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1908856","title":{"rendered":"Celtics add to their reputation as a team that loves to make things hard on itself"},"content":{"rendered":"
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BOSTON \u2014 Compared with some of the Boston Celtics\u2019 recent home-court playoff collapses, Tuesday night was far from the most dramatic.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t exceed Bobby Portis scoring a game-winning put-back layup after Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown collided while trying to rebound a missed free throw. It didn\u2019t top Trae Young completing a double-digit comeback with a pull-up 3-pointer in the final seconds and then walking down the court letting the TD Garden crowd know how cold he was. It didn\u2019t surpass Mikal Bridges snatching the ball away from Brown on Boston\u2019s final possession to seal a huge Knicks comeback.<\/p>\n

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The Celtics\u2019 113-97 Game 5 loss<\/a> to the Philadelphia 76ers didn\u2019t have much drama at all, unless anyone was wondering whether Boston would finally hit a shot late in the fourth quarter. But no, the Celtics couldn\u2019t do it. Even during garbage time, their end-of-the-bench players couldn\u2019t convince the basketball to fall through the net. Ron Harper Jr. and Amari Williams each failed to convert from close range during the final minute, extending their team\u2019s drought to 14 consecutive misses over the final 7:03.<\/p>\n

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By then, of course, the Celtics had assured themselves of another home playoff letdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we had a decent first half,\u201d Payton Pritchard said. \u201cI just think we were just a little lackadaisical at times when we could have put them away. We just messed around with the game. And when you have a team on the brink of elimination, you\u2019ve really got to put your foot on the gas and finish it. I thought we\u2019d let them have life at times that they didn\u2019t need to (have it).\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n \u201cWhen you have empty possession, empty possession, and at the other end, you\u2019re not getting stops, it just gets frustrating,\u201d Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. (David Butler II \/ Imagn Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Celtics could have closed out their first-round series early, then sat back and rested while the rest of the Eastern Conference duked it out for the right to reach the second round. Instead, with a 13-point second-half lead, Boston strengthened its reputation as a team that loves to shovel danger onto itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t really put my finger on it,\u201d Pritchard said, \u201cbut honestly, it feels like we\u2019ve been better on the road (during the playoffs). We don\u2019t want that to necessarily be the case. We want to be dominant at home and on the road. Definitely gotta get that fixed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Celtics will aim not to have another chance at home until the second round. But to end the series in Philadelphia in Game 6, they need to knock off a 76ers team feeling good about itself after its best all-around game of the series. Joel Embiid punished the Celtics inside, making 12 of his 18 2-point attempts, and handed out eight assists. Tyrese Maxey had his most efficient game of the series with 25 points on 10-for-18 shooting. Paul George, VJ Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes all found their strokes from outside.<\/p>\n

Afterward, the Celtics blamed themselves for feeding the 76ers the type of game they wanted.<\/p>\n

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\u201cDidn\u2019t make shots,\u201d Pritchard said. \u201cPace slowed down. And then you let Embiid do what he did. When the pace slows down, it\u2019s hard to cover him one-on-one, and we played right into his type of game.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Brown agreed with Pritchard.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely thought we could have played a bit faster, you know what I mean?\u201d Brown said. \u201cWhen they score, take the ball out, get down the court. And just overall, just not good enough tonight. Can\u2019t sum it up where, just a lot of different areas were not good enough. We\u2019ll watch it, and we\u2019ll make sure that we\u2019ll come out \u2014 we got to make sure we come out with the right energy, the right mindset, the right mentality on the road in Philadelphia. So that\u2019s what I\u2019m looking forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Celtics didn\u2019t need to make outside shots early to build a double-digit lead. After sinking a 3-pointer with seven minutes left in the second quarter, Jayson Tatum looked up and could be seen saying, \u201cThank you.\u201d Before the make, he had missed his first four 3-point attempts. As a team, the Celtics misfired on 11 of their first 14. And still, his basket gave them a 42-31 lead.<\/p>\n

It helped that the 76ers were similarly cold from outside, but Boston put itself in great position by finding plenty of other ways to score. Derrick White used an up-and-under to free himself for a layup. Tatum intercepted a pass and went the other way for a fast-break basket. Pritchard lowered his shoulder into Embiid to finish an and-1 over the massive center. The Celtics dished out 18 assists before halftime despite costing themselves plenty more opportunities by missing 16 of their 22 3-point attempts over the first two quarters. After entering the second half shooting 18-for-25 on 2-point attempts, they took a 63-50 lead two minutes into the third quarter.<\/p>\n

Then, the Celtics opened the door to the ghosts of their old TD Garden playoff letdowns.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think when you have empty possession, empty possession, and at the other end, you\u2019re not getting stops, it just gets frustrating,\u201d coach Joe Mazzulla said.<\/p>\n

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Neemias Queta\u2019s and-1 alley-oop with 7:03 left stood as Boston\u2019s final basket. After he missed the free throw, leaving the Celtics behind 97-94, they grabbed the offensive rebound but missed back-to-back 3-pointers that would have tied the score. They missed another on the next possession before crumbling down the stretch. Embiid beat a Celtics double-team by finding Grimes for an open 3-pointer, then scored the next four points to put Boston behind 104-94.<\/p>\n

\u201cGotta play through (frustration),\u201d Brown said. \u201cDefinitely some frustration, but just got to be better. Got to be better. It\u2019s not always going to go your way, so just be able to handle that and respond with maturity, and be able to score the ball, make plays for others, etc., even when the rhythm is maybe not flowing in our direction. I feel like tonight, we had a chance to win and pull away. We were up 13, and we didn\u2019t take advantage of it. So we\u2019re all to blame. We\u2019ve just got to watch it and respond and get better and move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s not fair to hold the sins of the past against the Celtics. They have a new supporting cast. They play an intense brand of basketball. They have added different ways to win, such as improving their offensive rebounding. Still, with the noted exception of the 2024 championship run when they blasted everyone, Boston\u2019s core has plenty of slip-ups at home in big spots. The formula often looks like it did in Game 5: The outside shots stop falling, the ball movement dries up and the Celtics fade.<\/p>\n

They will need to regroup in Game 6. As the rest of the Boston players trudged off the court Tuesday, Brown stood on the sideline with his right hand extended. He slapped five with his teammates who were walking by before heading to the locker room with them. He has been in this spot before.<\/p>\n

As many home playoff disappointments as the Celtics have produced, they have often redeemed themselves on the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust take a deep breath, relax and get ready to go,\u201d Brown said. \u201cJust have the right mentality and come out and execute your job. No need to put any extra pressure on ourselves. It\u2019s already enough of that as it is. So just come out and play basketball and play the right way. I think that\u2019s what our mindset is, and that\u2019s what we\u2019ve got to do going forward. Tonight wasn\u2019t the best example of what we want to do, Celtic basketball. We didn\u2019t shoot the ball well, maybe some frustration was there, etc. But it\u2019s over with now. Got to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BOSTON \u2014 Compared with some of the Boston Celtics\u2019 recent home-court playoff collapses, Tuesday night was far from the most dramatic. It didn\u2019t exceed Bobby Portis scoring a game-winning put-back layup after Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown collided while trying to rebound a missed free throw. It didn\u2019t top Trae Young completing a double-digit comeback […]<\/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-1908856","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\/1908856","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=1908856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908856\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1908856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1908856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1908856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}