The Boston Celtics lost Game 4 due to a poorly-timed decision by Jaylen Brown to double-team Joel Embiid in the post with 15 seconds left and the Cs up by two — a defensive tactic that resulted in a wide-open 3-pointer for James Harden that sank the bottom of the net and ultimately gave the 76ers a crucial series-tying victory.
Following the game, Brown told reporters that he simply made a “bad read” and a “gamble at the wrong time.”
Jaylen Brown on the decision to double: “Just a bad read. That’s it. It’s a gamble at the wrong time. Big shot by James Harden but that’s my fault. I take full accountability.”
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) May 7, 2023
CBS Sports’ Brad Botkin agreed with Brown but took the criticism of his decision a step further, calling the decision to go all-in on preventing a tie by opening up the opportunity for the Sixers to take the lead instead.
“Brown is right,” Botkin wrote. “This was not the time to gamble. He came for Embiid when the big man had his back turned perhaps thinking he could disrupt Embiid enough to cause a turnover or an errant shot, ending the game in that moment. But the risk of leaving an open shooter in the strong side corner, a cardinal sin at pretty much any point in any game unless it’s a bad shooter you are inviting to fire away, was just too high.”
Jaylen Brown’s Game 4 mistake could be the beginning of the end of the current Boston Celtics
It’d be quite the black pill to ingest to suggest Brown’s Game 4 mistake that ultimately led to the Boston Celtics blowing the chance to take a 3-1 series lead over Philadelphia could be the beginning of the end for the current Cs core. Boston still had a last possession to win which they didn’t effectively utilize, and this series is still in the Celtics’ hands with the series shifting to the TD Garden.
Still, it’s hard not to imagine the sheer chaos that Boston losing the next two games would cause after Brown — who was already a popular trade candidate with national outlets just waiting on the fall of the Celtics — had such an infamous gaffe. The antithesis of goodwill (bad-will?) that Brown would potentially bring on himself could potentially make a sour relationship with the city worse. Ime Udoka in Houston could certainly be a pull for Brown as well, especially if Harden is set to return to the franchise he peaked with.
It’s too early to make any grandiose statements on what Harden’s Game 4 game-winning 3-pointer could mean for the team moving forward, but it’s undeniable that the possibility it becomes a pain point moving forward for Boston Celtics fans certainly exists.