Despite blowing 3-1 lead after standout regular season, the Celtics remain unfazed: 'We stick to the process'

BOSTON — As a crowd of Philadelphia faithful gathered in a corner of TD Garden, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey emerged from the tunnel to celebrate with their fans following a stunning comeback from a 3-1 deficit to eliminate the favored Celtics.

“We want Boston,” Philly fans chanted.

The phrase became a battle cry for both fanbases. Philadelphians chanted it when their team captured the Eastern Conference’s seventh seed, earning the chance to play the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. Bostonians responded when their C’s jumped out to an early lead in the series. But the City of Brotherly Love got the last laugh, chanting it in an arena that had emptied out after a 109-100 Celtics loss in Game 7.

Meanwhile, in Boston’s locker room, the Celtics could have hung their heads low. On 32 previous occasions the franchise had taken a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven set, and 32 times the Celtics had won. Not this time. But they took the defeat in solemn stride.

“Great season,” said Boston’s Jaylen Brown. “Obviously, it didn’t finish the way we would’ve liked. I give credit to Philadelphia. I watched them get better as the series went on. But just for our guys to come out in a Game 7 and play with that level of intensity and trust, that’s the style we felt like we’ve been doing all year, and I loved it.”

After all, they discovered an hour before Game 7 that Jayson Tatum would not play. He was ruled out with left knee stiffness. It was the first game he missed due to injury since his own miraculous comeback from a ruptured right Achilles tendon last May.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla employed a starting lineup he had not played all season, resting Boston’s chances on Brown, Derrick White, Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza and Ron Harper Jr. It did not go well, as the Sixers jumped out to a 30-15 advantage through the game’s first 10 minutes. What had worked for the Celtics in the regular season — getting contributions from all across the roster — failed them on the playoff stage.

“We had faith in everyone that played tonight,” said Celtics guard Payton Pritchard. “That’s how it’s been all year. Guys stepped up and did their job. We had an unbelievable regular season, and we had a great three out of the first four games of this series. It’s something to learn and to grow from. We can get better from here.”

It was a tough night for Derrick White and the Celtics.

(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

In the end, Mazzulla could only trust Brown, White, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and Neemias Queta — his starting lineup for much of a season in Tatum’s absence. They stormed back from an 18-point, third-quarter deficit, trimming it to 99-98 in the final minutes. Three times they had a chance to take the lead (two open 3-pointers and a clean 13-foot Jaylen Brown jumper), and each time a go-ahead attempt rimmed out.

“In the fourth quarter we had some great looks I wish would’ve went down,” said Brown, “but nothing to hang my head over. Nothing for us to hang our head over.”

Much will be made of the way the Celtics lost, shooting below 30% from 3-point range in three consecutive playoff games for the first time in the Tatum-Brown era. But in order to be successful this season this was the way they had to play — jacking up 3s, relying on a collective effort to overcome their talent deficit — following the offseason exodus of Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porziņģis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet.

“Love the process that we had,” said Mazzulla. “Hate the result.”

What Tatum’s return to the shelf laid bare: The Celtics were operating at a talent deficit, even against the seventh seed, which added Joel Embiid midway through the series to a team that already boasted Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and VJ Edgecombe.

The Celtics had no answer for Embiid following his return from an appendicitis, and that will be their No. 1 offseason concern. The collection of Queta, Garza and Nikola Vučević, who was benched for the final game of the series, may have been enough to win 56 games in the regular season, but it was no match against a one-time MVP.

“What changed in the series was Joel Embiid came back,” said Mazzulla, the fourth-year coach. “It’s a completely different team, and that’s what changed in the series.”

There will be questions about the partnership between Tatum and Brown, though there should be none. They could easily make the argument that they have not lost with a healthy Tatum and Brown since the 2022 NBA Finals. Tatum injured his ankle in Game 7 of a 2023 Eastern Conference finals loss to the Miami Heat. He tore his Achilles in Game 5 of last year’s second-round loss to the New York Knicks, and a left knee injury kept him from Game 7 of this series. They won a title together in 2024.

“There’s a duality to everything,” said Mazzulla. “The year we won I felt just as empty as I did when we lost. The duality of going after something bigger than yourself with a group of people, there’s two sides to every coin. When you go after greatness, you have to accept the other side of that. Too many times it’s all about winning, winning, winning, but you have to surrender to the idea that when you’re going after that, you’re going to fail, and we failed by not winning, but we stick to the process.”

White and Pritchard are both under contract for the 2026-27 season, too. The Celtics could use another guard to reinforce their backcourt depth, but the foundation of a contender remains, especially if they can shore up the center position. This team will be back atop the East next year with Tatum and Brown if they play their cards right.

“Just because you didn’t win a championship one year doesn’t mean it didn’t build for the next championship,” said Pritchard.

But that doesn’t mean this loss will sting any less all summer. Those “We want Boston” chants may reverberate in TD Garden until the Celtics address their shortcomings.