1. The Boston Celtics were less than a minute short of a 3-1 series lead Philadelphia Seventy Sixers. twice.
twice.
It stops at the end of regulation or at the end of overtime and the series returns to Boston with a chance for the Celtics to finish it off in five games.
Instead, James Harden came up twice and the Sixers evened the series.
It’s disappointing not only to be so close and not finish the job, but how Boston handled both situations. Sure, Harden had to make the big shots, but the Celtics were just as guilty of their own demise as Harden.
2. Let’s start by realizing Boston put up a massive fight in the fourth quarter to make it a game. They closed in on defense and put in enough plays on offense to have a chance at winning in the end.
Philadelphia shot 6 of 19 in the fourth period. Joel Embiid, who continues his history of poor shutouts against the Celtics, was just 1 of 6.
That’s encouraging for Boston, though, for the loss. That’s true even if we overlook the fact that playing better in the first 36 minutes doesn’t mean being great in the last 12 minutes. But that’s just kind of how things go sometimes. That the Celtics were able to lock the Sixers down that much should bode well for the rest of the series.
3. Before we get into this mess at the end of regulation and overtime, we want to give Al Horford some love.
The Celtics veteran was phenomenal in the fourth quarter. When Horford did this, I felt like he ripped the heart out of Philadelphia:
Horford was also dominant defensively late in the game. He had three of his five blocks in the final frame. Horford knew Embiid didn’t have two legs left, so he went to the block on this bird and got it:
I felt this would be the play that made Boston the final stop they needed, but they couldn’t control the bounce:
There is some blame to be ignored for Boston’s failure to shutout Game 4, but none of it goes to Al Horford.
4. Speaking of failing on rebounds, the Celtics had a bit of a fling while holding a three-point lead with just over a minute left. The initial defense here was great. But nobody got a body on PJ Tucker and got a tag and a 1 to tie it in:
5. After Al Horford’s last save, the umpires had to stop the match to check whether the ball had hit the rim or not. It was close, so no room for complaint. Had it not hit the rim, 76 would have had to launch late on the clock. As it was, the parade was an off-season for Philadelphia.
The Sixers got what they wanted, as the Celtics turned Horford on James Harden. Horford was right on Harden, and Marcus Smart flew in with some late assist. It doesn’t matter:
6. Despite James Harden’s shot to tie it (remember he tied it for later!), Boston still had a chance to win the game.
Jason Tatum pulled three defenders and played the right game here. Marcus Smart was right about that, but he missed it:
It is important to note that Boston went without a timeout after Harden’s basket, although two timeouts were left. It is also important to note that Tatum started his lead with over five seconds remaining. Put these things away for later.
7. After going back and forth in overtime, the Celtics were down with less than a minute to play. Did Jason Tatum kick off here? I sure did. He also made the big shot:
But whatever that is. The key is noticing that when they needed a basket with less than a minute left to play, the Celtics had the ball and player movement in possession. File that far too.
8. Let’s do a reset before looking at the last two games of the game. The Celtics lead 115-113. A two-point shot can’t beat them. Here is the play:
Something went wrong with the Celtics on this play.
Don’t double arc when a two-point shot can’t beat you.
You don’t double one death.
You don’t double the strong angle.
Joel Embiid has no leg left. He was running on the fumes of his own smoke. Just let him take the contested hard shot.
All that said, Jaylen Brown took charge of the double team. He said he made a bad reading and it was a bad gamble and that it was his fault. Owning it and learning from it is all you can really ask for after the fact.
The biggest challenge is that Boston keeps switching at the end of these games for no good reason. Al Horford probably won’t stop Embiid, but considering it was only about 15 minutes or so ago, it’s probably best to stick to a match that’s been in the works for years.
9. Then you have the final play. Once again, the Celtics had two timeouts left. Here’s the whole final sequence (Sorry it’s in tweet form, but the clip couldn’t be pulled off easily otherwise.):
By the time Jayson Tatum starts making his move, there are less than five seconds to play. Unlike what happened at the end of regulation, that split second of time ends up counting down, because Smart’s shot was delayed.
But the bigger issue is that Boston has two deadlines remaining. Joe Mazzola could have asked for a time-out when it was clear things were faltering and not happening fast enough. He’s had enough good ATOs this season that the Celtics will probably get a clean look.
But again, they played it and this time there wasn’t even a look, because the shot was too late and it never happened.
Also, there is no real action in the play. Smart moves in after the initial pass, and White puts up a half screen for Tatum. But everyone more or less adheres.
Finally, Tatum could have forced the issue and took the shot himself or tried to foul. Mostly, all of this just needs to happen faster. And a timeout can reset things.
10. THE SERIES WAS HEADED TO BOSTON FOR GAME 5 NO WHAT. Now, the Celtics must win. The pillow is about to run out, but it’s still kind of there. But you hope you don’t need that last little padding.
Boston lost Game 5 at home in the second round last season. They went on the road and won Game 6 in Milwaukee, before losing the Bucks again to Boston in Game 7.
But that’s not a road you really want to go down again. The Celtics need to take care of business in Game 5, then shut things down perfectly in Philadelphia in Game 6.
On the one hand, it’s disappointing that Boston lost two games that they could have won, and perhaps should have.
On the other hand, it took two buzzer hitters from James Harden for Philadelphia to tie the series. This is not a sustainable way to win either.
But it doesn’t really matter how we got here. The series is the best of the three now. Get 2 more wins and move on. The time to survive and advance is now.