The Boston Celtics once again had to come up in the clutch to close out the Philadelphia 76ers
It was one of the most exciting back and fourth games of the season. Both teams showed up, and delivered special performances. In the end, it was a one possession game, and it went down to the very last heave, after Marcus Smart accidentally hit a free throw.
The Boston Celtics put themselves in a great position with a double digit lead, but fell apart at the end of the third quarter. All season long the Celtics have been up and down, but they have proven time and time again that they are as good as anyone in the closing minutes.
The Celtics once again executed just well enough to get their clutch victory, and this is the first time the Celtics have properly closed out a series in a while. They have blown two 2-0 leads in the past two seasons.
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They won those series in seven, but they have learned how much more difficult it is to win when you throw away momentum, and give another team a chance to have that one great game. Especially with the top talent missing, the Celtics still do not have that one player that is going to really take over one game.
In game five, they made it clear that they do not want that one individual hero, because so many different players step up when these guys are winning playoff games.
Jayson Tatum was the star, and hit the most important go ahead bucket. He’s now broken 20 points in seven consecutive games, and is quickly running away as the primary scoring option on this team.
Jaylen Brown put on an offensive clinic, and is clearly back at home in the starting lineup. Smart made his usual winning plays, including the game sealing steal and heave after the debacle at the free throw line.
Terry Rozier and Al Horford joined the other young stars with special performances. The Celtics knew they were collectively unacceptable in game four, and every significant player stepped their game up.
With Dario Saric, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons all having a strong performance, it took everything these players had to secure this victory. Embiid ended up with his chance to get that last bucket, but could not convert.
The Celtics too advantage of that last opportunity, and made sure the 76ers could not have another miraculous finish. The Celtics did a great job winning this series in five, but it was an incredibly tough five game series.
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The Celtics knew how important it was to get this game and keep their undefeated home record in tact. LeBron James is a completely different monster, but the Celtics have made it clear that you can no longer take them lightly because of injuries.