The lack of killer instinct is hurting the Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics had a great opportunity to finish off their first-round series against the Hawks and start a second-round series against the 76ers — which would’ve meant that Philadelphia probably would’ve been playing without Joel Embiid.

But instead of staying in Boston, they will be traveling to Atlanta for a Game 6 with the Hawks, who now have all the momentum.

When the Celtics’ lead was evaporating in the fourth quarter, I thought about something. A day earlier, Jimmy Butler put a stranglehold on a series against the Bucks by scoring 56 points and screaming “This is my s**t” from the top of his lungs. A game later he scored 42 and Heat won the series.

Boston doesn’t have that guy. They have talented players. But they don’t have that killer instinct.

When the Hawks started their comeback in the latter part of the fourth quarter, the Boston Celtics started to play “hot potato”. It seemed that they didn’t have a plan of how to stop the bleeding. You would hope, that Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum would be that guy, who would take over, but instead of taking over, they were on the wrong side of a 15-2 run.

The Boston Celtics have more talent than the Hawks and they still should win this series, but the lack of killer instinct is hurting them

It was a game at home, a potential clincher. You would expect that the Boston Celtics would set the tone. On both ends of the court. But instead, they allowed 30 points in the first quarter and they allowed Trae Young to get in the rhythm. And then they allowed another 37 in the fourth.

The Celtics tend to beat teams with the offense, not with their defense. And sometimes it might be a problem, because when you let a team get loose, sometimes they can get hot.

That’s what happened in Game 5. Hopefully, that killer instinct will kick in before it’s too late.