What went wrong for Celtics? How Boston embarrassingly blew 3-1 series lead in first 76ers playoffs loss in 44 years
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What went wrong for Celtics? How Boston embarrassingly blew 3-1 series lead in first 76ers playoffs loss in 44 years originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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The Boston Celtics were the odds-on favorite to win the Eastern Conference as the Detroit Pistons started slowly in their playoff series, but all of that optimism was erased in a matter of days.
The Celtics blew a 3-1 series lead against the Philadelphia 76ers, suffering a stunning first-round exit after a 56-win season.
It certainly didn't help that the Celtics drew a 76ers team that got healthy and seemingly peaked at the right time, but the result is a devastating one for a Boston team that had Jayson Tatum back in the fold and hoped to avenge last season's second-round loss to the New York Knicks.
Here's a closer look at what went wrong for the Celtics on their way to a playoff collapse.
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What went wrong for Celtics vs. 76ers?
3-point shooting
The Celtics ranked eighth in the NBA at 36.7 percent from 3-point range this season, but the shots just didn't fall when they needed them to fall against the 76ers.
Boston shot 35 percent from beyond the arc over the first six games, a passable mark, but it was the difference in losses. The Celtics were just 13-of-50 on 3s in a Game 2 loss, 11-of-39 in Game 5, 12-of-41 in Game 6, which equates to less than 30 percent in all three games. A 13-of-47 mark in Game 7, including six consecutive misses in crunch time, was right on par with those performances.
Any team that shoots so poorly from 3-point range will have a hard time winning consistently, but other teams have won in these playoffs even on their off days in that department. The Celtics couldn't find a way to do it, and it left them one win short.
Derrick White's shooting struggles were a massive factor, as he started the series 5-of-25 from deep. While he started hot in Game 7, he went cold again late in the game. A hero for the Celtics during their 2024 title run, White saw his efficiency dip in the regular season and couldn't find a way to recapture that magic in the playoffs.
Jaylen Brown's inconsistency
Jaylen's Brown's overall numbers in the series were fine, but the Celtics needed more from him after a stellar regular season.
Brown was held under his season average of 28.7 points per game in five of his first six games in the series. Some of that has to do with Jayson Tatum also sharing the floor, something he didn't do for much of Brown's regular season, but Brown shot 40% from the field in Game 5 and Game 6 losses, also struggling from the free-throw line at times with a brutal 2-of-6 mark in Game 6.
The Celtics would have liked to see Brown create more than he did when his shot wasn't falling, but he only had two assists and one rebound in Game 6 when he was held to 18 points, and found a rhythm a bit too late in Game 7.
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Lack of production from big men
One of the biggest questions entering the season for the Celtics was how the frontcourt would shake out with Kristaps Porzingis and Al Hoford gone along with Tatum's absence. Thanks to Neemias Queta and others, Boston got by just fine. It wasn't enough in the playoffs, however. Queta came in below his season average of 10.2 points per game in five of seven games against the 76ers, and strong rebounding efforts weren't enough in Games 5 or 6. A much better Game 7 for Queta was derailed by foul trouble.
Nikola Vucevic, meanwhile, was a disappointment after he was acquired from the Chicago Bulls. The veteran became unplayable by the end of the first round, shooting just 37.8 percent in the series and failing to give the Celtics the reliable offensive big man they thought they were getting. Joe Mazzulla opted to run out a lineup with no big men rather than put Vucevic in the game when Queta was in foul trouble in Game 7, and it burned his team.
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Poor matchup luck
While the Celtics certainly shouldn't make any excuses for losing as a No. 2 seed and doing so in this fashion, they also didn't exactly get lucky with their first-round draw.
Rarely does a team that spends all season waiting to get healthy actually get healthy, but the 76ers did hit their stride in the playoffs with Paul George, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid all finishing the series together alongside VJ Edgecombe.
Embiid missed the first three games of the series and returned for a Game 4 loss, so the Celtics had their chances, but Boston caught a team that simply looked more formidable than the No. 5 Raptors or No. 6 Hawks did in the first round, even with Toronto still alive.
Jayson Tatum's injury
After losing back-to-back games, the Celtics were dealt another blow when Jayson Tatum was downgraded to questionable and ruled out for Game 7 with knee stiffness. Tatum was seen dealing with pain late in Game 6, but he wasn't listed on the initial injury report heading into Game 7.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said before Game 7 that the team made the decision to protect Tatum long-term and sit him out. Whether that decision was the correct one is only something the Celtics know, but it played a role in their shocking first-round exit despite legitimate hopes of winning the East.