Quite a few fans of the Boston Celtics have been vocal in how the team's big men were used defensively in Boston's Game 2 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2026 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs. And for good reason, given some of the easy shots from beyond the arc Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey was getting when facing off with Boston's bigs.

But newest Celtics center Nikola Vucevic cautioned fans to keep their cool heading into Game 3 after a recent Boston practice given how he is seeing the situation. 'I think it's important that we don't overreact to some of those (3-point shots), because ... I think there's a lot of things that we could have done better, that are controllables that would have helped us in certain situations."

"So I think that we don't get carried away with that too much, but I think it's a team effort," added the Celtics center.

"For example, when on drives, on pick-and-rolls, obviously the guard has a job to get over ... (or) under the screen to follow his guy, and then we have a job to help at the right moment to be there for him," said Vooch. "And then other guys (are) also helping, our defense is very connected it's not just one or two main jobs."

"It's all five of us (that) have a job in those situations to help each other, and always be there for each other. And even I think last night there were some good moments that we did a really good job, and we had our best."

This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Nikola Vucevic emphasizes complexity, team focus of Celtics defense vs. 76ers