The Fact That The Celtics Have Allowed Their Series Against The Sixers To Reach A Game 7 Is Beyond Shameful

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Just like the morning after the Game 5 debacle, I woke up today (if you can even call it waking up given I spent all night staring at my ceiling) trying to decide if what I feel is rage at what the Celtics have done these last two games, or is it more a feeling of disgust? 

Giphy Images.

What I do know is the fact that after taking a 3-1 series lead and having a 13 point second half lead in Game 5, the fact that the Celtics are in this position and will play a Game 7 on Saturday is shameful. It's embarrassing. It's pathetic. It's inexcusable. Pick any word you want really, they all apply. 

If the Celts current situation feels familiar, that's because what we've seen in the back half of this series is exactly what cost them during their run last season. When they lost to the Knicks, a big part of that was the fact that the Knicks top 3 players simply outperformed the Celtics top 3 players. At a time when execution matters, they made the plays. There was a lot of deflection in terms of people blaming 3P volume or health etc, when in reality the truth of the matter was they were outplayed and outexecuted.

When you look at the last two games of this series, it's really a very similar story when it comes to the top end talent on both sides. Once again, the Celtics top 3 players are being outplayed and outexecuted by their opponents top talent

Now when I say this, when you dig deeper this isn't really a Tatum thing. As we get through this blog, when you hear me say the Celts "top talent" or "best players" just know that largely, Tatum isn't really the culprit in any of these issues. If anything, he's been the ONLY player on the roster who has lived up to their billing and expectations, and you could even make the case that he's exceeded them.

But when we look at these last two games, the proof is in the pudding

Maxey/Embiid/PG13: 112.4 ORTG / 93.4 DRTG / +19.0 net rating 

Tatum/Brown/White: 88.8 ORTG / 116.7 DRTG / -27.9 net rating

There were a lot of things that have gone wrong over the last two games, as this has been a collective failure (minus Tatum) from the main guys to the role players to the coaching. There is a baseline expectation of production, and it's no surprise that in the 3 games we've seen everyone fail to meet that baseline, the Celts walk away with disaster loss after disaster loss. They are quite simply being out played for the second postseason in a row. Their execution is poor, their approach is fucked, they look like a team that has lost their identity which is crazy because they were essentially 16 minutes away from ending this series in Game 5. 

These games come down to shotmaking and execution, so is it any surprise that this is how things look in each of the 3 losses?

Game 2: 49% TS%

Game 5: 49% TS%

Game 6: 50% TS%

But that's how the playoffs work. You fuck around, you give your opponent life, things start to tilt, and then it gets to a point where things snowball in a way where now your season is over and you've lost a series you had no business losing. 

Alright, we have a LOT to get to, so let's just dig right the fuck in.

The Good

- Normally I would skip this section because, duh, but I do think it needs to be made crystal clear that when it comes to the Celts situation, virtually zero of the complaints/issues should be directed towards Jayson Tatum. Has he been perfect? No, but he's giving you 23/10/7 on 47/36% splits with a 60.8% TS% and a +6.6 net rating in his minutes. 

If we were told ahead of the playoffs that THIS was the version and production we would get from Tatum, all of us would be ecstatic. He showed he was ready for playoff intensity/physicality, and frankly, it's pathetic that despite having a full year of learning how to not be Jayson Tatum merchants, the Celts are once again Jayson Tatum merchants so far this postseason.

So again, there is PLENTY of blame to go around, but Jayson Tatum isn't even on the list for me. Just keep that in mind as we go forward. 

The Bad

- We're going to start with Joe Mazzulla. Listen, it's not a secret I'm a Joe Mazzulla guy. But part of this job is telling the truth and the truth is, Joe is having a horrendous series. And while I do think the whole "adjustment" bullshit is just a buzzword people use when they want to complain and all that stuff, here's what I do know.

His decision making has played a large role in why the Celtics find themselves in this position. 

Last year when we saw KP continue to get run, I was mostly forgiving of that decision because it was such a weird situation. Nobody knew what the hell was going on with the mystery illness, and I think everyone expected KP to be able to make point blank layups, plus having a 7'6 giant out there at least in theory could help. It didn't, so the thought was everyone learned a valuable lesson when it came to this time of year and how you need to be able to adapt and alter things based on how things play out on the court.

This time around, we're seeing the same sort of issue play out only in my opinion it's way more inexcusable given what took place in 2025. Our first issue, is the decision to keep rolling with a starting lineup that has very clearly shown to not be effective this entire series. 

White/Brown/Hauser/Tatum/Queta (58 minutes):

96.5 ORTG / 105.9 DRTG / -9.4 net rating

While a lot of this comes down to player execution, where Joe comes in is he's the one who is deciding to keep this lineup out there despite the overwhelming evidence that it's simply not working. Hauser remaining in the starting lineup and then continuing to see the floor is not working, yet there's a stubbornness there from Joe that has proven to be pretty fucking costly. 

If he's making shots, fine. He can be on the floor. If he's not making shots, there's absolutely no reason why he needs to play. Just look at how this series has played out

Games 1-3: Hauser was 8-15 from 3 and the Celts were 2-1 (He was 2-8 in the loss)

Games 3-6: Hauser 5-16 from 3 and the Celts are 1-2

Here's why this is so frustrating. While it won't solve all their problems, there is plenty of data to suggest the fix for this issue is on the roster, only they're being avoided in favor of a player who has been a net negative for half of the series

Is it crazy to think Jordan Walsh could shoot at least 31% on C&S 3s (what Hauser has been the last 3 games)? I don't think so. So if the argument for keeping Hauser in this role/floor time is spacing, I don't buy that. Considering Walsh is the only player who has shown any bit of success bothering Maxey, there's just no excuse for him not to be WAY more involved. In my opinion, you need to start Walsh in Game 7, but it may be too late. This has been staring Joe in the face all series, and he's continued to roll with the lineup that we know isn't working for this series. That's what the entire season was for! To have multiple options ready should something like this happen, then it happened and he's not using the tools available to him to overcome it. That's bad coaching.

You can even put Baylor in this spot and the same idea applies. He gives you the same level of shooting with better defense and rebounding, yet he's not being given run either. That is on nobody other than Joe Mazzulla.

Then there's the decision in how he's using Pritchard, which for this series isn't nearly enough. Once again, all the data points to Pritchard being on the floor with the Jays or just with Tatum is wildly successful 

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So why isn't he starting the second half last night when you're down 9 and have mostly played flat all night? Why are most of his minutes coming with bench lineups when it's so very obvious things are working better when he's with the Jays/starters?

If we look at the 4-man lineup of Pritchard/Walsh/Tatum/Brown, that group has a +41.3 net rating in their small sample of 17 minutes. The fact that it's only been 17 minutes is insane considering these are really the only players who are seeing any sort of success in this series. 

The frustrating part is this is all happening post-2025 Knicks series. You get one mulligan because that was a weird situation. you do NOT get another mulligan for doing the same shit now in 2026, especially when for the entire season you didn't operate this way. If someone wasn't played to the needed standard, Joe took them out and subbed in someone else. It's what was the story of their entire season. Yet now here we are in the playoffs and he's doing the exact opposite. It makes no sense and there's really no defense for it. Sam Hauser is not teflon. Neemias Queta is not teflon. Treating them like they are is largely why the Celts are in this position.

- Sadly, the Nikola Vucevic experiment has been mostly a disaster on both ends of the floor. When the Celtics traded for him, there was the deep underlying fear that this was another Evan Fournier situation. That these former Magic players just aren't cut out for the big leagues/high pressure situations.

I think we all accept that there are going to be defensive limitations with Vuc. He's older, has slow feet, and that's the price you pay for having him on the floor. The offense is supposed to balance that out, but what happens when the offense disappears?

So far in the series, Vuc is shooting 37/29%. Given his role is to be one of the main sources of offense in the second unit, getting virtually nothing from him on either end has been brutal

Given the shortened rotation, you can't survive if you're getting this type of production from one of your main reserve rotation players. 

The trade for Vuc at the deadline made sense. It helped their books and gave them a player in a position of need who fits how they play. But in terms of what they're getting from it on the floor? It's been a complete no show, and that was the fear back at the deadline. Could he show up and be effective on a team with title expectations? So far, the answer has been no.

Obviously Queta/Garza haven't been much better, and that's the problem. There's no real right answer. No matter who has seen the floor has struggled for different reasons, and I'd say the Celts frontcourt getting exposed like this has been a huge reason why they are now headed to a Game 7. Maybe we finally see the Celts go small? Who knows, but what I do know is the entire center rotation has been a nothingburger this entire series on both ends of the floor.

- Losing a game in which Embiid shoots 6-18 (1-5) and the Sixers only made 11 3PM on 33% while scoring 106 points is straight up pathetic. They didn't even play all that well! But once again, we saw the offense disappear far too often. 

In my opinion, this game turned in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. The Celts lost those quarters by a combined 62-40, and in the 2nd quarter it was the defense allowing 38 points, and in the 3rd quarter it was the offense only scoring 14 points. Coming out of the half down 9, it was extremely important that the Celts punched first. What did they do?

Tatum turnover on the opening possession, Brown offensive foul/turnover on the 2nd possession and the next thing we knew the lead ballooned to 15+ and that was it. Just a complete lack of focus and execution at a time when you needed focus and execution.

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- For a team that was so good at dominating the possession battle and the shot margin, I would say both of those things played a heavy role in their demise in Game 6. Careless with the basketball, only 3 OREB through 3 quarters, even while the Celts were making shots in the first half it didn't really matter because they were getting killed in the shot margin department because they weren't winning the possession battle. 

If this team shoots 47/40% in a half, they should be blowing their opponent out. Instead, the Celts trailed by 9 at the break despite that level of shotmaking. Why? Because at the break, PHI had taken 47 FGA to the Celts 38. They took care of the ball. They outshot the Celts from deep (8-19) and the FT line.

There's a reason the margins are so important, and Game 6 was a perfect example of that. If you don't win the margins, you're not going to win playoff games. That's been true for as long as I've been alive.

- Another dogshit performance from the FT line (7-13) and this is the easiest sign for me that this team is not mentally locked in. Jaylen Brown missing 4 of those FTs is something that just cannot happen. In their 3 losses in this series, the Celts are shooting 64.9% from the FT line. That is so horrendous I don't even know what to say.

When you're struggling to shoot the ball and you are consistently leaving 6-8 points at the FT line, you are begging to get your ass beat. You almost always end up chasing those points throughout the game, especially when the margin for error is so thin. 

These last 2 games? The Celts shot 59.0% from the FT line. FIFTY NINE PERCENT.

The Ugly

- We begin this section with the play of Jaylen Brown. This is how it works. When you want to be the top dog and talked about in that light, stuff like that comes with expectations. What we've seen from Jaylen over the last 2.5 games is nowhere close to the level of play that is good enough for a top option, hell it's not even good enough for a 2nd or 3rd option.

In closeout games, it's on the best players to shut the door. That's the role. I felt as though Tatum did his job, but Jaylen? This is not an acceptable performance in any way

it wasn't just the box score issues either. Multiple times we saw Jaylen get beat backdoor because he was losing sight of his man and the ball, something that has certainly been an issue before. 

In terms of his approach, this series has been nothing like what we saw from Jaylen during the year. He's morphed back to being a tunnel vision player spamming isolation/poor shots as opposed to keeping his head up and finding teammates, something he did so well with during the season. It's playing right into how the Sixers want him to play, and I'm sorry but to me this is a player issue. Jaylen needs to understand and recognize that his approach is translating to losing basketball. 

Only 1 rebound? 4 missed FTs? 5 TOs all because he's relying WAY too much on his off arm to create space? The Sixers know it's coming so they embellish, and it's working. A total of 10 offensive fouls shouldn't even be possible, but that's what happens when you force your offense as opposed to letting things come to you and playing within the flow of a possession.

The fact of the matter is, the Sixers stars are outplaying Jaylen. Period. If you want to be THE GUY, well then you have to play like THE GUY. We're seeing why low percentage midrange FGA aren't usually a shot most teams want players to take, and it feels as though a majority of Jaylen's midrange are more long-midrange than the paint/FT line midranges he got during the year. This is largely due to his inability to beat guys like Paul George and Kelly Oubre off the dribble. That's forcing him to either try his off arm, or try to elevate and shoot over contact from 19ft, which is not a sustainable offense. 

- While he was slightly better from behind the arc (3-6), another massive issue of this series has been the complete disappearance of Derrick White. All that talk about advanced metrics and impact etc and yet at the end of the day it comes down to whether you can be productive or not. Can you execute? Can you be that 3rd weapon offensively?

The answer has been a resounding no

No games over 11 points? 30/25% splits for the series? Single digits in half the games? 

When you add in the struggles of Jaylen Brown as well, who can survive that? I go back to the baseline expectation. Does this feel like good enough production for your #3 option? Tatum being back has done nothing to solve any of the issues like we thought would be the case during the year. The advanced metrics don't mean dick if you aren't going to be able to make shots. Period. 

This is why, as flawed as Mazzulla has been so far this series, I'm not sure what coach survives with their 2nd and 3rd best players playing at this level. A coach can only do so much in these situations, at the end of the day the best players on the team needs to play like the best players. Instead, everyone outside of Tatum (and a little Pritchard) has been a complete no-show. That's how you find yourself in a Game 7.

So now it all comes down to this. One game for your season where anything can happen. One bad quarter can end your season, one random hot shooting night can end your season, one injury can end your season. Something that was completely avoidable after taking a 3-1 series lead is now the Celtics reality, and they have no one to blame but themselves.

The coaching has been bad, the players' performance (outside of Tatum) has been bad, the execution has been bad, and this is what you get. The Celtics fucked around, and now they're on the verge of disaster. Even if you win Game 7, you've now put so many unnecessary miles on everyone's legs, plus Tatum might be hurt. It's all just so fucking annoying.