The last 40 or so hours have been full of panic for Boston Celtics fans. They watched their team fail to capitalize on a golden opportunity to close out their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers with a Game 5 win.
Not only did they fail to close the door, but the way that it happened was particularly alarming. Sixers center Joel Embiid looked legitimately impactful, and Boston’s late-game offense completely stalled.
Their 11 fourth-quarter points were the second fewest in a single frame in franchise history.
It, by definition, was not good.
As a result, fans have spent the last day or so taking deep breaths in trying not to think about the prospect of the Cs blowing the first 3-1 series lead in the franchise’s 80-year history.
Fans are panicking. Players are not.
Internally, it couldn’t be more different.
“Pretty normal,” Celtics center Nikola Vucevic said of the feeling in the locker room ahead of Thursday’s Game 6 in Philly. “This is a very experienced group, guys that have, obviously, won a championship. They've been in the playoffs so many times with most of these guys. So they know what it takes.”
Boston’s players and staff, while disappointed in Tuesday’s result, are simply looking forward.
“We’ve got an opportunity here tonight to end the series, and so we know it’s gonna be a fun atmosphere, and it’s gonna be a challenge, and I think we’ve got a lot of guys that look forward to that,” Derrick White shared at shootaround.
The Celtics have been in worse spots, and they know it
As Vucevic pointed out, this isn’t a foreign situation for this group. They’ve missed a few opportunities to put stress-free ends to series at home over the past few years, dropping Game 5 against the Atlanta Hawks up 3-1, and Game 6 against the Miami Heat up 3-2 in 2023.
“Yeah, we had a great opportunity to close out at home,” Vucevic added. “We didn't do our job. And so you have to move on to the next one and come here [and compete]. And, obviously you understand the importance of it, but you don't try to make too big of a deal out of it, because it can affect you.”
Boston has failed in higher-leverage situations than Tuesday, too. They’ve dropped three of four Game 5s in a tied series. Two of those three times, they’ve come back to win both Games 6 and 7.
“In general, in the NBA, you can't panic regardless,” Vucevic explained. “You know, if you win or lose, you have to kind of try to stay in that middle ground and understand everybody's good in the playoffs, and anybody can beat anybody on any given night. “
Now with two opportunities left to close out the 76ers, all that the Celtics can do is focus on what they’re able to control.
“You try to just focus on the things that you can control, the controllables in the game, and if you take care of those, you're going to give yourself a chance,” said Vucevic.
They're not down and they're not out.
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