On Tuesday, April 28, the Boston Celtics failed to close out their first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers. Joe Mazzulla's team came into the game holding a 3-1 lead and was playing in front of its hometown crowd. However, Philadelphia's ability to protect the rim, get out in transition and control the glass ensured they took a second win on Boston's home floor.

During his postgame news conference, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse dove into what the Sixers did on defense to limit Boston's offensive firepower. It's worth noting the Celtics shot just 13.6% from the floor during the fourth quarter.

“I think we were able to really execute what we wanted to do defensively, just weren’t blowing assignments and we were guarding the ball hard," Nurse said. "I mean, they did take it in deep there a few times, but it wasn’t a whole lot of straight line drives, or we got into lots of rotations, or any of those kinds of things. So, I just think everybody did a really good job of kind of guarding their man and executing the schemes that we wanted executed. ”

The Sixers need two straight wins to pull off an upset against Boston. Game five is set to take place on Thursday, April 30. Nick Nurse will undoubtedly want to see his team replicate its defensive efforts. However, the Celtics have been consistent in bouncing back from losses throughout the regular season. Mazzulla's team rarely loses two straight games, and will undoubtedly embrace the challenge of ending the Sixers season in front of their own fans.

Boston is currently undefeated on the Sixers' floor during the 2026 postseason, winning both of its road games so far.

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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Celtics' game six struggles were due to the Sixers defense