76ers (1-3) at Celtics (3-1) Round 1 Game 5 4/28/26

[Redz]

I said this in another thread and lots of people disagreed. But in the Tatum/Brown era both Tatum and Brown go one on one way too often and either end up with crappy fadeaway jumpers or threes (Tatum), or dribble into turnovers (Brown), he also takes a lot of crappy shots off the dribble.

Additionally they are massive choke artists - they have a unique ability to turn what should be a four game sweep into a seven game war. They?ve done it over and over and over again. They did it under Stevens and they?re doing it under Mazzola.

It starts and ends with Tatum and Brown - as a former PG you simply have to be able to make the right decisions without the coaching having to spine feed you on every play.

The game gets tight and then they get tight and every to jacking up crappy threes off one on one dribble creation. They?re BBIQ door knobs.

It?s the reason they have the most playoff wins and playoff series wins during their run but the fewest titles. They have the most playoff wins because they couldn?t close a door if their life depended on it.

They do subscribe to Zig Ziglar?s ABC sales strategy, but instead of ?Always Be Closing?, for Tatum and Brown it?s ?Always Be Choking?. When they won game 4 in Philly, I called my Sixers friend and said ?congratulations on your game five win in Boston because I knew there was. O possible way Tatum and Brown could man up, draw a line in the sand, get I to a figurative basketball fist fight and shove it down The Sixers throat. It?s not who they are. That?s for guys with last names like Bird, Jordan, Bryant, Magic etc.

I?d probably seat Pritchard and I?d use Garza on Embiid until he fouled out - he?s our strongest big man - and unlike Tatum and Brown he?s willing to get his nose very dirty. Vicevic offers zero resistance.

The max wins in any series is 4,  How has extending series contributed to an inflated win total?  Maybe it's inflated their career playoffs stats totals because they've played more games than it would seem necessary.

[ScoobyDoo]

I mean that they've played more games than any other duo in large part because so many of their series that should have been 4-0, 4-1, or at worst 4-2, turned into seven game wars because they lack the killer instinct and choke away most of the pivotal games in series where you should close the team out, like tonight. In my book them losing tonight was 100% guaranteed based on their track record of doing exactly this in what should be slam dunk close out games.

They always play way more games than needed because they're chokers. They did the same thing in game four against the Warriors, at home with a chance to go up 3-1 a few years back in the finals. They did the same thing against LeBron and the Cavs in game 7, again at home in a close out game to go to the finals. It wasn't because they were young and inexperienced either. It was because they kept jacking threes even though they were missing them miserably all night. No willingness to do what's required to win. They just want to jack threes and see what happens.

Yeah, I checked it; they shot 7-39 from three in that game against the Cavs.  Nicely done.

[Goldstar88]

Tim Bontemps: Boston closed out tonight?s game with 16 straight missed field goals.
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[Who]

Tim Bontemps: Boston closed out tonight?s game with 16 straight missed field goals.
x.com

They were 3-17 FGA in Q4 with a couple of minutes left.

2 Hauser threes and a lob pass from Jaylen to Queta. The 3 buckets in Q4.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Joe wore out the starters, too tired to shoot in the 4th...I dunno why he didn't use the bench more, they've been great all year.

[SparzWizard]

I mean that they've played more games than any other duo in large part because so many of their series that should have been 4-0, 4-1, or at worst 4-2, turned into seven game wars because they lack the killer instinct and choke away most of the pivotal games in series where you should close the team out, like tonight. In my book them losing tonight was 100% guaranteed based on their track record of doing exactly this in what should be slam dunk close out games.

They always play way more games than needed because they're chokers. They did the same thing in game four against the Warriors, at home with a chance to go up 3-1 a few years back in the finals. They did the same thing against LeBron and the Cavs in game 7, again at home in a close out game to go to the finals. It wasn't because they were young and inexperienced either. It was because they kept jacking threes even though they were missing them miserably all night. No willingness to do what's required to win. They just want to jack threes and see what happens.

Yeah, I checked it; they shot 7-39 from three in that game against the Cavs.  Nicely done.

2018 - Celtics defended home-court up until Game 7. They met LeBron, with the sense of urgency to comeback from double-digit and beat the Celtics at the Garden. This is on the Celtics.
2019 - Series against the Bucks. Bucks were just talented all-around, but the C's completely shafted after their Game 1 win in Milwaukee. Just flat out quit. I didn't expect them to win, but to not even show up, wow.
2020 - This one is also on the Celtics. Against a 5-seeded Miami Heat team, and they allowed the Heat to go up 2-0 before winning the series 4-2. This is on the Celtics.
2021 - Injured
2022 - Played with their food. How do you blow Game 5 at home against the Bucks? With a chance to take a 3-2 lead, instead, trail 3-2 and required Tatum to go off in Game 6 and a masterful night from Grant Williams in Game 7. Same thing with the Heat...Game 7. Then with a 2-1 series lead over the Warriors, they start with the sloppy plays and turnovers and basically choked away the series. This one is on the C's.
2023 - Humiliation. Playing with their food again. 6 games against the Hawks, 7 games against the 76ers. Down 0-3 against the 8-seeded Heat before losing Game 7 at the Garden. This one is on the C's.
2024 - The one outlier year. Ok you should win your games, but they also dumped on crappy injured teams and were fortunate enough to evade Denver and played Dallas instead. Take any championship we can.
2025 - How do you blow b2b home games after leading by 20 in each game? Idk, if you win Games 1-2, you'll ease up and stress less for Games 3 and 4 and maybe Tatum doesn't get injured. But KP and Jrue were also hurt so Idk what's going on. On the Celtics/injuries.

2026 - Here we are. Could've defended home-court but didn't. Now they find themselves up 3-2 with pressure on them instead of resting tonight getting ready for NY/ATL.

BTW, Jaylen Brown was here in the 2016-2017 season when we still had that Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, and Al Horford team. Yea, they beat the Bulls and Wizards before getting curbstomped by the Cavs. No fault of JB since he was a rookie but he def should remember his first playoff crushing defeat and build from experience.

[Celtics2021]

Tim Bontemps: Boston closed out tonight?s game with 16 straight missed field goals.
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They went 1-14 from 2 in the 4th.  1-8 from the paint.  It?s not even like when they were chucking 3s against the Knicks a couple times last year.  Heck, they went 3-7 from the line.  On to Philly for redemption.

[Who]

I've seen this movie before.  In 2025 against the New York Knicks.

This team isn't a true contender.  We're not winning anything.  The East is weak, but we still underperform way below our talent level against inferior competition.  Even if we make the Finals, OKC beats the Celtics in 5.  The only way that doesn't happen is if White wakes the hell up and Tatum and Brown play more consistently.

Feels like we could say this about all the contenders in the East. Cleveland, Boston, New York. Detroit currently against ORL. None of them have been convincing.

East is wide open ... and the Celtics have more pedigree than anyone else. Questions sure but less questions than any of the other teams. CLE, NYK, DET.

[ozgod]

I've seen this movie before.  In 2025 against the New York Knicks.

This team isn't a true contender.  We're not winning anything.  The East is weak, but we still underperform way below our talent level against inferior competition.  Even if we make the Finals, OKC beats the Celtics in 5.  The only way that doesn't happen is if White wakes the hell up and Tatum and Brown play more consistently.

Feels like we could say this about all the contenders in the East. Cleveland, Boston, New York. Detroit currently against ORL. None of them have been convincing.

East is wide open ... and the Celtics have more pedigree than anyone else. Questions sure but less questions than any of the other teams. CLE, NYK, DET.

That's a positive, but realistic, way of looking at it. The rest of us might agree after we're past the anger stage of our grieving process. We expected to blow the Sixers away [dang it] 

[ozgod]

I must ask - is there a possibility our expectations of this team were too high? They over-excelled in the regular season, but the playoffs was always going to be the true test of whether we were contenders or not. And we did trade away a lot of experience. Plus we have a guy who came back from an Achilles tear just a month or two ago.

Conversely, did we underestimate a full-strength Philly team?

The regular season was a ton of fun because our expectations were low and we were planning on a gap year and those were exceeded. Now on the basis of that we're expecting to win the East, possibly win the championship since we split our regular season matchup with OKC 1-1, and the Sixers, who had to get through a play-in (like Miami a few years ago) are giving us a hard time (though to be fair they've only given us a hard time in 2 games but that's 2 too many). We're calling for our coach to be fired, Brad to be punished for punting the season, Jaylen Brown to be traded for Giannis...is it possible we are overreacting due to unreasonably high expectation?

[Celtics2021]

I must ask - is there a possibility our expectations of this team were too high? They over-excelled in the regular season, but the playoffs was always going to be the true test of whether we were contenders or not. And we did trade away a lot of experience. Plus we have a guy who came back from an Achilles tear just a month or two ago.

Conversely, did we underestimate a full-strength Philly team?

The regular season was a ton of fun because our expectations were low and we were planning on a gap year and those were exceeded. Now on the basis of that we're expecting to win the East, possibly win the championship since we split our regular season matchup with OKC 1-1, and the Sixers, who had to get through a play-in (like Miami a few years ago) are giving us a hard time (though to be fair they've only given us a hard time in 2 games but that's 2 too many). We're calling for our coach to be fired, Brad to be punished for punting the season, Jaylen Brown to be traded for Giannis...is it possible we are overreacting due to unreasonably high expectation?

I stay away from game threads because they are insane.  Maybe Philly was slightly underestimated, in part because Embiid came back more quickly and more productive than expected.  This year?s team has never put together a truly dominant stretch (largest win streak was 5), but aside from the first three games of the year, when things were very different, has not lost more than two in a row, and it has only done that twice since the calendar turned to 2026.  In other words, it has performed at a consistent level overall, with the highs not getting too high and the lows not getting too low.  I expect they will come out and win game 6.  I would not be surprised if it looks close to game 4.

[SparzWizard]

I must ask - is there a possibility our expectations of this team were too high? They over-excelled in the regular season, but the playoffs was always going to be the true test of whether we were contenders or not. And we did trade away a lot of experience. Plus we have a guy who came back from an Achilles tear just a month or two ago.

Conversely, did we underestimate a full-strength Philly team?

The regular season was a ton of fun because our expectations were low and we were planning on a gap year and those were exceeded. Now on the basis of that we're expecting to win the East, possibly win the championship since we split our regular season matchup with OKC 1-1, and the Sixers, who had to get through a play-in (like Miami a few years ago) are giving us a hard time (though to be fair they've only given us a hard time in 2 games but that's 2 too many). We're calling for our coach to be fired, Brad to be punished for punting the season, Jaylen Brown to be traded for Giannis...is it possible we are overreacting due to unreasonably high expectation?

But you and I didn't expect Derrick White to suddenly had a major drop-off this entire season. He had his time to step up as a no. 2 guy, but now that JT is back, he's not even feeling it as a no. 3 guy.

At this point Marcus Smart would make more sense on this team than White

[ozgod]

I must ask - is there a possibility our expectations of this team were too high? They over-excelled in the regular season, but the playoffs was always going to be the true test of whether we were contenders or not. And we did trade away a lot of experience. Plus we have a guy who came back from an Achilles tear just a month or two ago.

Conversely, did we underestimate a full-strength Philly team?

The regular season was a ton of fun because our expectations were low and we were planning on a gap year and those were exceeded. Now on the basis of that we're expecting to win the East, possibly win the championship since we split our regular season matchup with OKC 1-1, and the Sixers, who had to get through a play-in (like Miami a few years ago) are giving us a hard time (though to be fair they've only given us a hard time in 2 games but that's 2 too many). We're calling for our coach to be fired, Brad to be punished for punting the season, Jaylen Brown to be traded for Giannis...is it possible we are overreacting due to unreasonably high expectation?

But you and I didn't expect Derrick White to suddenly had a major drop-off this entire season. He had his time to step up as a no. 2 guy, but now that JT is back, he's not even feeling it as a no. 3 guy.

At this point Marcus Smart would make more sense on this team than White

This is my point about expectations. If we're expecting White to be a No2 guy, it's not going to happen because, quite simply, he's not a No2 guy. If we're expecting him to be that then that's a recipe for disappointment. He's best when he can play off others and make them better, and score when needed because attention is on others. Somehow he seems to have lost his confidence but I'm not expecting him to be a No2 guy. If anything he's a No.4 guy. PP is better as a No3 guy because at least he can create his own shot.

I honestly think our issues are more mental than anything. Overconfidence, and expecting the Sixers to fold, because we thrashed them by 30 twice. The G2 loss they probably wrote off to "we shot terrible, they shot 50%, it won't happen again". And it just did 

[jambr380]

I must ask - is there a possibility our expectations of this team were too high? They over-excelled in the regular season, but the playoffs was always going to be the true test of whether we were contenders or not. And we did trade away a lot of experience. Plus we have a guy who came back from an Achilles tear just a month or two ago.

Conversely, did we underestimate a full-strength Philly team?

The regular season was a ton of fun because our expectations were low and we were planning on a gap year and those were exceeded. Now on the basis of that we're expecting to win the East, possibly win the championship since we split our regular season matchup with OKC 1-1, and the Sixers, who had to get through a play-in (like Miami a few years ago) are giving us a hard time (though to be fair they've only given us a hard time in 2 games but that's 2 too many). We're calling for our coach to be fired, Brad to be punished for punting the season, Jaylen Brown to be traded for Giannis...is it possible we are overreacting due to unreasonably high expectation?

There?s an argument to be made that the Sixers are just better than we are. We had a better regular season, but Embiid only played 38 games and George was suspended for 25 games. Instead of being rusty, they are actually just well rested. Their depth is more proven than ours as well.

Nobody wants to admit it, but we lost a lot of talent in the offseason and we made it up with great coaching and low ceiling young players. Some who aren?t really playing. We should still win the series, but there are no guarantee moving forward. The Knicks aren?t exactly lacking in talent either.

Last night was bad, but it?s not that we are always choking. Tatum is still getting right from his Achilles injury and I don?t think anybody really should have thought that Brown was truly a 1st Team All-NBA caliber player. And now one of our most trusted reliable guys in Derrick White is suddenly awful

[celticinorlando]

Morning after.....still p---ed.

This was controllable but the effort after getting up 13 in the third was trash.

Missed shots led them to just quit on both ends. Lazy, lazy hero ball and standing around on defense.

Game 6...there needs to be a major turnaround or we are having a game 7.

I do not buy the above that the Sixers are just a better team. Even their own media has called out their roster as being awful. This is about Boston.

White is almost unplayable at this point. Guy looks like a ghost out there.