Boston Celtics
“Did Philly win this series or did Boston blow it? I think the answer is both.”
Bill Simmons wasn’t thrilled with Joe Mazzulla’s approach during the playoffs. Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe
Longtime Boston sports scribe Bill Simmons — like many Celtics fans — was at a loss on Saturday night.
Despite holding a 3-1 series lead against the Philadelphia 76ers in their first-round playoff series, the Celtics dropped three straight games — including two at TD Garden — to their longtime rival en route to a crushing, season-ending defeat in Game 7.
Simmons took to his podcast on Sunday to react to the Celtics’ surprising first-round exit — taking head coach Joe Mazzulla to task for the way he handled his lineups and his overall adjustments (or lack thereof) during the seven-game series.
“I thought Mazzulla was incredible in the regular season. It was honestly — I voted for him for Coach of the Year, I thought he was incredible. And I don’t know what they were thinking with these playoffs. I have so many questions. And look, did Philly win this series or did Boston blow it? I think the answer is both. … They went back to their 2024 style without the same players, is my biggest issue.
“They slowed it down, they didn’t play with pace, they gave up on their bench. And I was saying it on the podcast at the time, I didn’t really understand it.”
While the loss of Jayson Tatum for Game 7 didn’t do the Celtics any favors, Mazzulla’s decision to roll with a starting-five unit of Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Luka Garza, Baylor Scheierman, and Ron Harper Jr. for Game 7 raised eyebrows.
That grouping had not played a single minute together all season long. After just four minutes, Mazulla pulled the plug on that five-man unit after Boston fell into an early 11-3 deficit.
Add in Boston’s strict adherence to its 3-point shooting philosophy and the lack of adjustments once Joel Embiid returned to the series in Game 4, and the Celtics had few answers after initially being viewed as one of the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference.
“This is my honest feeling: I think Mazzulla treated this series like, ‘Let’s figure out what we have for when we play the Knicks and the Pistons and whoever comes out of the West. I’m gonna use this as my litmus test series,” Simmons added. “I’m gonna see what I have with [Nikola] Vucevic, I’m gonna shorten my rotations, I’m gonna try to do the 2024 thing again.’ And they just got away from what succeeded for them.
“The bench was the superpower of this team. It was guys like Hugo [Gonzalez] and Walsh coming in and being maniacs for five, six minutes. And just punted on it… So just – I really think Mazzulla screwed this series up, and I’m always gonna think that.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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