Warning to the Boston Celtics fanbase: if you thought yesterday was painful and are having trouble getting over it, this will rehash some pretty painful memories.
The Celtics pulled off the impossible: blowing their monumental lead to a No. 7 seed in the first round. Worse, they did to the one team whose number they've had for almost a decade. In so doing, Mazzulla did something that not even Doc Rivers did when he coached the Celtics: blowing a 3-1 lead.
Now, to be fair, Mazzulla has made Celtics history period with this. They are the first Celtics team to blow a 3-1 lead in franchise history. It's actually not that surprising given Boston's pretty rich history with success
This is the first team in Boston Celtics franchise history to blow a 3-1 series lead… in its 79 year history.
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) May 3, 2026
Insane. pic.twitter.com/NeE08J1HXA
Now Rivers' reputation since leaving the Celtics has gotten a lot worse. However, because of the one title he won as the Celtics' head coach, that made many brush off how many blown leads he had in those other years in the Big 3 era.
That era lasted five years, one of which resulted in Banner 17. Three out of the four years, Rivers and Boston had a 3-2 lead in their series, all of which resulted in them losing in seven, like they did yesterday against the Sixers.
2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. Orlando Magic
2010 NBA Finals vs. Los Angeles Lakers
2012 Eastern Conference Finals vs. Miami Heat
Rivers had better excuses than Mazzulla does
For all the flak Rivers catches, in 2009, the Celtics went into the playoffs down Kevin Garnett (and then Leon Powe). It was actually pretty impressive that they had Orlando on the ropes knowing that they went on to beat LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games the next round.
The following season, the Celtics lost Kendrick Perkins not too long after Game 6 started and then barely went on to lose in Game 7. Two years later, Boston shocked the entire world when they went up on the Heatles. It then took LeBron having the game of his life to come back to beat them.
Mazzulla has an excuse for why Boston lost Game 7 - no Jayson Tatum - but that doesn't excuse Boston messing around for the first six games of this series. In other words, it shouldn't have come to Tatum's absence being Boston's final undoing.
This Sixers series was a coaching catastrophe for Mazzulla. It'd be shocking if he lost his job from it, but it'd also be shocking if his seat doesn't get a little warm.
Because this isn't his first one.
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