All the great work that the Celtics have done all season long is being negated in real time with back-to-back brutal losses to the Sixers, and they’re now staring at a Game 7 on Saturday to try and save the season. After a blowout win in Game 4 when the Celtics ran Joel Embiid and the 76ers off the floor, it looked like Boston was in complete control, but it has all fallen apart very quickly.
There’s still a Game 7 in TD Garden, but it’s hard to feel confident about the Celtics’ chances after what we’ve seen over the last six quarters. These weren’t a couple of fluky losses with shooting variance; this was the Sixers imposing their will and pushing Boston around on both ends of the floor.
Everything that worked during the regular season has disappeared. The Cs are turning the ball over, they're not pulling down offensive rebounds, and they aren’t generating three-point looks. The drive and kick game has vanished, the Sixers are manhandling the drivers and rotating to take away shots.
And it’s one and done every time, as the elite rebounding team has disappeared. In Game 6, the Celtics didn’t get their first second-chance points until there were under 6 minutes to go in the third quarter.
Celtics have abandoned everything that worked all season long
The story of the season was winning the math game by dominating the possession battle and stifling teams with defense and depth. But the team that did that all season has become unrecognizable.Â
They’re leaning far too heavily on Tatum and Brown, they can’t find a center who can stay on the floor and give them good minutes, they’ve stopped rebounding and taking care of the ball, the ball isn’t moving, the shots aren’t falling, and they’ve abandoned the bench role players.
76ers look like the better team
Frankly, it’s hard to watch, and it’s making it seem like this was just a try-hard regular-season team that’s overmatched in a playoff setting. At full strength and playing with confidence, the Sixers look like the better team. Joel Embiid has looked like an MVP the past two games, Tyrese Maxey is playing like a superstar, and Paul George has discovered the fountain of youth.
Joe Mazzulla is getting worked by Nick Nurse, and the sad reality is that at this point, even if the Celtics are able to bounce back and win Game 7 on Saturday, they don’t look like a team that can give the Knicks trouble in round two, and they don’t even look to be in the same league as the Thunder and Spurs.
A lot can change between games in the NBA, and the Celtics team has the heart of a champion. They could get hot and hit threes, and we could be having a different conversation in a few days. But all of the good vibes and confidence that existed after Game 4 feel like a lifetime ago.
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