The Celtics failed to close out the 76ers on Tuesday night, losing by double-digits at home after entering the night with a 3–1 series lead. Boston now must hit the road again and try to finish off its first-round opponent, a familiar story for the franchise in recent years. Despite the overwhelming talent of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the C’s have struggled to win at home in the postseason.
The big story of their Game 5 loss was an absolutely horrendous fourth quarter. They tallied only 11 points in 12 minutes and missed their final 14 shot attempts. It was one of the worst fourth quarters we’ve seen in the playoffs in over 20 years, as noted by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, and was the worst scoring quarter from Boston this season. That sort of showing will make for a primary talking point entering Thursday’s Game 6.
