Joe Mazzulla on Celtics’ Recreation 5 loss at TD Backyard: ‘That was our first actually, actually unhealthy sport of the playoffs’

Celtics

“All the things went mistaken for us that may go mistaken.”

The optics that performed out Tuesday night time on Causeway Road have been removed from preferrred.

Because the Celtics made their approach off the parquet flooring, the scattered followers nonetheless current inside the TD Backyard stands crammed the air with a discouraged refrain of boos.

It was a becoming stamp on a 115-103 loss to the 76ers in Recreation 5 of the Jap Convention Semifinals.

As ugly as these ultimate minutes have been for Boston, the results within the wake of a pivotal residence defeat are much more grave.

Tuesday’s taking pictures woes (39.8 % from the sphere), sluggish begin, and defensive lapses in opposition to Philadelphia’s pick-and-roll now have Boston only a sport away from elimination.

Boston must win two straight in opposition to the Sixers to maintain their season alive, together with Thursday’s Recreation 6 showdown at Wells Fargo Middle.

However the Celtics have repeatedly didn’t capitalize in opposition to the Sixers this sequence. Be it a Recreation 1 residence loss with out Joel Embiid in Philly’s lineup or a Recreation 4 time beyond regulation defeat marred by an absence of urgency and execution, Boston has had many failed probabilities to take management of the sequence.

However for Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, Tuesday’s defeat stands because the lone outlier up to now in Boston’s playoff push.

“That was the primary sport of the playoffs that we didn’t play properly, in my view,” Mazzulla stated postgame. “So we will’t lose our perspective of we performed actually good basketball. And that was our first actually, actually unhealthy sport of the playoffs. Doesn’t come at essentially the most effective time. However we simply must shift our perspective and prepare for the following sport.”

Mazzulla is true that the Celtics will doubtless need to burn the tape following Tuesday’s disappointing efficiency.

Whether or not or not it’s Al Horford failing to sink a number of wide-open appears from deep (0-for-7 from 3-point vary), Malcolm Brogdon (3-for-9) lacking layups within the paint or Jayson Tatum going 0-for-5 in a sleepy first quarter, Boston’s offense struggled to realize its footing on the Backyard.

A few of that may maybe be chalked as much as the streaky nature of Boston’s taking pictures tendencies. 

However lacking 9 free throws and letting Embiid constantly sink mid-range jumpers are irritating examples of Boston each failing to regulate and sabotaging its personal gameplan.

“All the things. All the things went mistaken,” Marcus Smart said. “They made each proper play. They made each hustle play. All the things went mistaken for us that may go mistaken.”

Mazzulla would possibly attempt to forged apart Tuesday’s end result as a one-off, choosing a clear slate forward of a do-or-die Recreation 6 in Philadelphia.

However the margin of error afforded to Boston is now razor skinny. It’s an unenviable state of affairs to be in for the Celtics, and it’s one primarily of their very own doing.

“I assumed our intentions have been good,” Mazzulla stated. “I assumed we tried to play onerous. I assumed we tried to play the proper approach, particularly on the offensive finish. I assumed we obtained quite a lot of attractiveness early that didn’t fall. And theirs did. After which I believe whenever you’re in that state of affairs, you’re simply making an attempt to win it again. Like I stated, it’s the primary time that we simply didn’t play properly, and we simply obtained to regroup and prepare for the following sport.”

As disheartening as one other loss on residence court docket could be, the Celtics are in the identical spot they have been in final Could.

After dropping a 110-107 end result to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks in Recreation 5 of the 2022 Jap Convention Semifinals, Boston wanted to win the following sport at Fiserv Discussion board to maintain its title hopes intact.

The Celtics bested Milwaukee in Recreation 6 on the highway, 108-95, after which promptly dispatched them again at TD Backyard in a 109-81 blowout in Recreation 7.

A 3-2 sequence deficit is much from a dying sentence, particularly for a Celtics roster with loads of postseason mettle.

However that doesn’t imply that Boston can simply relaxation on their laurels and count on the same script to play out on Thursday night time in Philadelphia.

“Final 12 months’s over with,” Jaylen Brown said. “This 12 months we gotta come out and be higher than we have been tonight or we’ll have a special ending. Clearly, we’re nonetheless on this sequence and we gotta muster up no matter we’ve obtained left to be higher for Recreation 6.”