The Celtics were two quarters away from a ticket to the second round on Tuesday night. Instead, a brutal showing in the second half led to Boston’s second loss at home in the series in a 113-97 defeat to the 76ers in Game 5.
“Boston mustered just 11 points on 13 percent shooting in the fourth quarter as the Sixers turned a close game into a runaway win.
There were ugly performances across the board by Boston in the defeat. Jaylen Brown took plenty of tough contested shots. Derrick White’s shooting woes continued. Boston’s center rotation couldn’t slow down Joel Embiid in the second half.
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Joe Mazzulla also had a tough night, setting the stage for a stunning fourth quarter collapse by Boston. Let’s examine a few decisions that came back to bite Boston in Game 5.
Not enough Payton Pritchard: The Celtics were a far better team with the point guard on the floor Tuesday night, outscoring their opponents by eight points in his 27 minutes in a 16-point loss. Despite that, Pritchard found himself on the bench for long critical stretches of this contest. A big one was a large chunk of the fourth quarter where Pritchard was pulled with eight minutes left as the entire starting five was brought back into the game. By the time Mazzulla turned back to him with four minutes left, Boston was down by double digits.
Pritchard may not have saved Boston in Game 5 but he’s been the team’s third-best player in this series and it hasn’t been close. He deserved to be on the floor for more than 27 minutes since good things happened with the ball in his hands all night (six assists, zero turnovers).
Putting too much trust in the starters? When the game got tight in the fourth quarter, Mazzulla went back to a unit that hadn’t done much all night together. In this series, the starters have a negative net rating and those struggles were apparent in Game 5. Sam Hauser was a team-worst minus 21 and Derrick White’s shooting woes right now make him a guy that shouldn’t be playing 36 minutes a night.
Mazzulla has alternatives on his bench to mix things up but he turned to those options too little during Game 5. Whether it’s Pritchard or Baylor Scheierman (46 percent from 3 in the series), the Celtics coach needs to utilize the bench more on nights when the starters don’t have it.
After the game, Mazzulla was preaching a message of calm as the series shifts to Philadelphia in Game 6.
“Just have an understanding, perspective. It wasn’t all bad,” Mazzulla said. “We played solid basketball, and then let’s focus on the stuff that we have to get better at and be more consistent in those things headed back to Philly.”
The Celtics have been at their best on the road in the playoffs in recent years but the path will be tougher now with Joel Embiid finding some rhythm in Game 5. Pushing the right buttons moving forward will be essential for Mazzulla to ensure this series comes to an end on Thursday night.
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