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Jaylen Brown: ‘I’m proud of my team.’ — 11:00 p.m.
Jaylen Brown and the Celtics fell just short of a big comeback in Game 7 against the 76ers on Saturday. Here’s what Brown had to say after the loss:
On his thoughts on the season: “Great season. Obviously didn’t finish the way we would’ve liked. I give credit to Philadelphia, I watched them get better as the season went on, but I, play with that level of intensity, play with that level of trust, that was the style we were playing all year. and I loved it. It was a pleasure. Each and every one of those guys, I’ve watched develop, get better and step up in big moments to help us win games. Tonight, we came up a little bit short, fourth quarter, we had some great looks that I wish would’ve went down, but nothing to hang my head over, nothing to hang our heads over.”
On offensive struggles in the series: “This is the playoffs. They’re a good defensive team, this isn’t the regular season, and we have to adjust throughout the series, different lineups, different adjustments, and it just didn’t go our way. But the style we played tonight, I think that that’s a great style, we just played fast and freer, I think we played a little bit more pace than we had in the previous games. I felt great about our team responding, obviously down our best player, our superstar, Jayson Tatum, wasn’t there, which could have helped, but … I’m proud of my team.”
On any feelings of regret: “No feelings of regret whatsoever. Obviously, we would like to close it out and win in five games or win in six games. But, you know, Philadelphia is a good basketball team, and they’ve gotten better since the regular season, Embiid is playing at a high level, and it’s the playoffs. We knew it was going to be a fight, and we didn’t expect nothing less. Nothing to hang our head over. Got no regrets. I don’t think my teammates should have any regrets. We had good games. We had bad games. That’s the storyline. And you got an opportunity to win tonight, and we just came up short.”
On how he defines success and failure, reflecting on the postseason: “It’s hard to reflect on it right now because it’s so fresh in the moment, but obviously this organization is used to playing later into the season, and this is my first time [making] a first-round exit, but this season, what the expectations were and how we came out, we rose to meet that level of uncertainty with this group. There’s nothing more I could ask for. Had a great with my teammates. You know, we played hard. Felt like we left it all out there. Tonight, we came up short.”
On finding out Jayson Tatum wasn’t playing: “I found out probably like 45 minutes before the game. Nobody told me anything. Mind-set was the same.”
On going small in Game 7: “It was tough, Embiid put a lot of pressure on us, on all our bigs and our guards. We didn’t really have an answer for him. We tried a bunch of different things, and he’s a big body — he was also flopping around, he got some extra calls and stuff like that, and they rewarded him for that, but, you know, that’s the league we’re in, so. That’s all I got to say.”
On tweaking the team’s style of play: “I wish we played that style and trusted that style more, even throughout the playoffs, even through wins and losses. Obviously it’s not always the easiest decision, but I wish that that style, for our team, was how we empowered the rest of our group, and you saw tonight how everybody came out and they played their their tail off. I wish we trusted that more.”
On if this motivates him for next season: “It’s tough to think about next year, next season. I’m still, I’ve got emotions from just tonight. Overall, like I said before, it was a great season. I’m proud of my teammates and just their growth, from guys coming from different organizations, or guys who either played a lot or stepped up big in these playoffs and stepped up big in the regular season to help us get to the position that we’re at. That’s what it’s about. I’m so grateful to be with this group. This group was awesome. I had a fun year. This is probably my most fun year playing basketball, it wasn’t always perfect, it wasn’t always analytically, aesthetically pleasing, but we won a lot of basketball games, and people could see the grit and the fight that we played with every single night. Tonight was an example of that. We left it all out there. We played five small guys, we played a rookie, we played whatever, and we scrapped all the way to the end, just came up a few plays short.”
What Joe Mazzulla said after the game — 10:40 p.m.
Joe Mazzulla has never exited the playoffs in the first round as head coach of the Celtics.
Here’s what he had to say after the loss.
On going to a different starting lineup: “I thought there was a couple things we saw tactically that we wanted to test out, give the series a bit of a different feel, and take advantage of the roster that we have and take advantage of the guys that get impact plays and whatnot. So, it was great from our guys, and we came up short.”
On what went wrong late in the fourth, the shots not falling: “Yeah, it’s just that simple. You take a look at it, there’s plays that we could’ve maybe defended without fouling better, not put them at the foul line, things of that nature. But at the end of the day, I thought we competed well defensively and we had a couple great looks to take the lead and we just [have] to make them. But credit to the guys for being down in the second half and battling back to that. Watching the guys compete the way they did was important to me and I appreciate that.”
On what he’ll remember about this team: “I think just who they are as competitors. When you don’t win a championship with the Celtics, there’s always going to be a level of, ‘We have to be better.’ But at the same time, regardless of what was going on, we came in with that type of mentality. I thought we came in with a championship mentality from the beginning of the year, and I thought the guys just put their heads down and went to work, and I’m grateful that I get to coach them.”
On the fourth-quarter comeback: “At no point during that game did I think we were going to lose it because of who they are as competitors and what they’ve done throughout the entire year. We had two or three great looks, and just didn’t knock them down. But the result of that is not going to get in the way of who they are as competitors and what they’ve done, in this game, and what they did throughout the season.”
On if he thought the Celtics were too reliant on jump shots in the series: “No. I thought we did a great job taking the 2-on-1s, taking what the defense gave us, and in the games we lost, the other team shot over 38 percent from three. You’ve got to make shots, you’ve got to be able to do that, that’s something we do well, and we just didn’t. I thought they did a good job throughout the series, later games, of making them. So, love the looks we got, love the process that we had, but I hate the result.”
On exceeding expectations in the regular season, but underperforming in the playoffs: “I think a lot of times in the world today, it’s an either/or society, but there’s a duality to everything. The year we won, I felt just as empty as I did when we lost it. The duality of going after something, either for yourself or for a group of people, there’s always 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 if you’re going after that, you’re going to fail. And we’ve failed by not winning, but we stick to the process of being able to do that.”
On what changed in this matchup between the regular season and playoffs: “What changed in the series is Joel Embiid came back, and they’re a completely different team. That’s what changed in the series. As far as the regular season and playoffs, nothing changed.”
76ers center Joel Embiid (left) and Jayson Tatum embrace after Game 7.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe StaffFinal: 76ers 109, Celtics 100 — 10:03 p.m.
The Celtics’ season is over.
The Sixers might do it — 9:58 p.m.
The Celtics had multiple chances to take the lead in a 1-point game, but couldn’t get the shots to fall before back-to-back Tyrese Maxey buckets made it a 5-point game. The Celtics trail, 103-98, with 20 seconds to go, and it looks like this comeback is going to fall agonizingly short.
// 76ers 99, Celtics 98 3:00, 4Q
Still a one-point game — 9:55 p.m.
The Celtics haven’t managed to take the lead yet, with Brown missing another 3.
The Celtics are rolling, and it’s a 1-point game — 9:45 p.m.
The Celtics are playing this fourth quarter like their season depends on it, and they’ve cut a 13-point deficit to a single point midway through the quarter.
Boston has outscored Philadelphia 19-7 in the period, and Game 7 looks like it’s going down to the wire.
Celtics start the fourth strong, cut deficit to 6 — 9:30 p.m.
What a difference a few minutes makes. The Celtics start the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run, and all of a sudden that 13-point lead is down to just 6 after a Jaylen Brown layup.
TD Garden has some life, and so do the Celtics. They trail, 90-84, with 9:22 to play in Game 7.
End Q3: 76ers 88, Celtics 75 — 9:23 p.m.
If the Celtics are going to keep their season alive, they’re going to have to find some rhythm in a hurry, as they trail the 76ers, 88-75 after three quarters in Game 7.
A buzzer-beater from Derrick White cut the deficit to 15, but Boston has a big hole to climb out of in the fourth quarter.
Joel Embiid leads all scorers with 27 points along with 10 rebounds and 5 assists, with 21 points from V.J. Edgecombe and 20 from Tyrese Maxey rounding out Philadelphia’s three-headed scoring attack.
Jaylen Brown has 26 points and White has 21, but neither has been efficient, each shooting below 50 percent from the field.
The 76ers are on a run, and the Celtics are in trouble — 9:17 p.m.
The Celtics are hanging on by a thread in Game 7 — a 14-3 76ers run has Boston trailing by 18, and the hosts are running out of time to save their season.
The Celtics have just 16 points through the first 10 minutes of this third quarter, and it’s getting hard to see where the offense is going to come from down the stretch.
Celtics struggling to close the gap — 9:10 p.m.
The Celtics still can’t quite find their footing in the second half, as they trail, 74-63, with 4:47 to go in the third quarter.
Boston also still can’t find an answer for Joel Embiid, who is up to 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists. He has the Celtics’ big men in foul trouble, and Boston’s smaller defenders can’t hang with him inside.
A rough start to the second half for the Celtics — 9:00 p.m.
The Celtics have found no traction to start the second half, quickly giving up an 8-2 run to turn that 5-point halftime deficit into an 11-point gap.
Joel Embiid might foul out Boston’s entire center rotation before this one is done — Neemias Queta (fourth foul) and Luka Garza (third) have already been whistled in the opening minutes of this second half.
The second half is underway — 8:55 p.m.
The second half of Game 7 is underway here at TD Garden. Can the Celtics stave off a first-round upset? They have 24 minutes of basketball left to save their season.
A new half comes with a new five: Joe Mazzulla opts to roll with Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Baylor Scheierman, and Neemias Queta to start the third quarter.
Halftime: 76ers 55, Celtics 50 — 8:35 p.m.
After a slow start, the Celtics have clawed their way back into this Game 7, cutting a deficit that reached 15 to just 5 as the 76ers lead, 55-50 at the half.
Hugo Gonzalez helped bring the TD Garden crowd back to life with his energy on defense, and when the shots started falling, the noise level stayed up. After hitting just 2 of 12 3-pointers in the first quarter, Boston made 5 of 7 from deep in the second quarter to chip away at the deficit.
Joel Embiid is still a problem for the Celtics, as the former MVP is up to 19 points along with 5 assists and 5 rebounds in the first half.
Derrick White has matched him, though, with 19 points of his own on a hot 3-point shooting night that the Celtics desperately needed.
The Celtics take the lead, and TD Garden is rocking — 8:20 p.m.
All of a sudden, the Celtics lead.
An 18-4 run has vaulted Boston back in front after an excellent stint from the Celtics’ bench unit. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Payton Pritchard and Derrick White gave Boston its first lead of the night, 37-36, midway through the second quarter.
Hugo Gonzalez injects some life — 8:10 p.m.
Joe Mazzulla is going much deeper into the bench tonight, summoning Hugo Gonzalez for his first real minutes of the postseason, and it paid off fast.
Gonzalez’s swarming defense helped rejuvenate the TD Garden crowd, and a sudden 8-2 run from the Celtics has this building rocking. Boston still trails, 34-27, but the crowd is into it for the first time tonight.
End Q1: 76ers 32, Celtics 19 — 8:02 p.m.
One quarter is in the books here at TD Garden with the 76ers leading Game 7, 32-19.
Joel Embiid leads all scorers with 10 points along with 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Jaylen Brown has 8 points for the Celtics, who shot just 7 of 20 (35 percent) from the field and 2 of 12 (17 percent) from 3-point range in the first quarter.
The 76ers are shooting 65 percent from the floor.
Celtics struggling to contain Joel Embiid early — 7:55 p.m.
Joel Embiid is already a problem for the Celtics, with the Sixers’ offense running through their big man early.
While he only has 6 points on five shots, Embiid has caused Boston problems elsewhere, quickly drawing two fouls on Luka Garza and punishing helping defenders that try to double him. Embiid already has four assists in just eight minutes.
Derrick White has had a solid start, hitting two of his four 3-point attempts, but Boston’s offense is otherwise struggling as the visitors lead, 25-15, late in the first quarter.
A slow start for the Celtics — 7:45 p.m.
The Celtics’ offensive struggles have bled into the start of Game 7, with Boston falling into an early 9-0 hole after missing its first four shots.
The Celtics finally got on the board with 4 points from Derrick White, who hit a 3-pointer and one of two free throws, but they trail, 13-6, nearing the midway point of the first quarter.
Game 7 is underway — 7:35 p.m.
The 76ers win the tip, and Game 7 is underway. Follow along with our live updates throughout the night.
A big shakeup to the starting five — 7:10 p.m.
Joe Mazzulla is shaking up his starting lineup.
Baylor Scheierman will enter the lineup for Jayson Tatum, but Mazzulla is making a couple other changes: Luka Garza will get the nod over Neemias Queta, and Ron Harper Jr. will make just the fourth start of his NBA career in a huge spot in place of Sam Hauser.
A white-out planned at TD Garden — 7:00 p.m.
The Celtics are looking for a white-out at TD Garden, with playoff t-shirts on every seat pre-game.
How will the 76ers attack the Celtics without Tatum? — 6:30 p.m.
Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse addressed the media pregame and was asked about Jayson Tatum’s absence. Here’s what Nurse had to say:
On how Tatum’s absence changes the matchup: “Obviously it’ll change some matchups and things like that. They’ve obviously played a lot, majority of their season, without him, and played very, very well. So I think they’ve got enough games under their belt and have guys they trust and rely on.”
On if the Sixers are preparing for the Celtics’ adjustments or focused on themselves: “I think you’re always trying to look at some possibilities of things that you think they had some success with, that they might go back to a little bit more, you know, I think that you’ve got to kind of see how it unfolds a little bit. But yeah, I mean, you talk about a bunch of different, three or four different scenarios or things that can be different, just to make sure you’re ready to see them and then try to address them as they crop up.”
How the Celtics and 76ers matched up without Tatum — 6:15 p.m.
The Celtics won’t have Jayson Tatum against the 76ers, but that’s something Boston got used to this season.
The Celtics were without their star for the first 62 games of the year, which included all four regular-season matchups with the Sixers.
Boston and Philadelphia split that four-game series, alternating wins and losses — and splitting the matchup both at home and on the road — in the regular season.
Three of those matchups happened very early in the year, with the Celtics playing the 76ers three times through just 12 games. Boston lost the opener at home, 117-116, before winning by the same 1-point margin in Philadelphia on Halloween. Eleven days later, the Sixers won by just 2 points at home.
The most recent Tatum-less matchup was on March 1, which was a 114-98 Celtics win best remembered for Neemias Queta’s dominant 27-point, 17-rebound display.
Celtics and 76ers have plenty of Game 7 history — 6:00 p.m.
The Celtics and 76ers know a thing or two about a Game 7.
Two of the NBA’s oldest franchises have gone the distance in a seven-game series on eight occasions, with Boston claiming a 6-2 record over Philadelphia in those contexts.
The most recent came in the 2023 Eastern Conference semifinals, when Jayson Tatum set a playoff franchise record with 51 points in the decider.
The Celtics eliminated the Sixers at the same stage in 2012, before which you have to go all the way back to the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals, a Philadelphia win best remembered for Andrew Toney cementing his “Boston Strangler” moniker and the “Beat LA!” chants from the Garden crowd.
The 76ers’ only other Game 7 win over the Celtics came in 1977; Boston claimed further Game 7 victories in 1981, 1968, 1965, and 1959
Here’s what Joe Mazzulla said about Jayson Tatum’s injury — 5:45 p.m.
Celtics star Jayson Tatum was ruled out of Saturday’s Game 7 against the 76ers about two hours before tip-off.
Here’s what coach Joe Mazzulla had to say when he met with the media pre-game:
On what changed with Tatum’s injury status: “He just came in today with knee discomfort, and we decided, the team and myself, for him not to play.”
On Tatum’s exact injury: “Back of the knee stiffness. [He’s] day-to-day.”
On playing without Tatum, as the Celtics did earlier in the year: “I think the season is about creating different identities regardless of who’s in, who’s out. And I think it’s something throughout the year, even when Jayson was out, other guys were out, we had to play another type of way. So I think that’s what the season’s for, is to create different identities, and then throughout playoffs, the series, you try to lean on a few of those. And so a couple of the identities that we had throughout the season, we’ll lean on tonight.”
On when exactly the injury occurred: “I’m not sure. I know at the time, end of the third, I know he was in the back getting treatment, talked to him yesterday, and then today, he came in and he had stiffness.”
On when the decision was made: “Right before we came in. Like, 20 minutes ago.”
On who has the final say: The medical team, myself, we work on it and we thought that was in his best interest.”
On leaning on Brad Stevens, coaching staff in situations like a Game 7: “Brad’s obviously a great resource. Our staff in general, the people that we have in our building, are great resources, not just now, but leading up to this point. Offseasons, throughout the regular season, sometimes you’re always just picking the brains of coaches that have been in different situations, and you know, you want to rely on those experiences, and at the same time you’re going to have your own experiences. We’ve had a few together, some of our staff, this is another experience that we have together, and to be able to do something together.”
Jayson Tatum ruled out for Game 7 — 5:40 p.m.
It seems the Celtics are taking no chances.
Star Jayson Tatum, who’d been struggling with an issue with his left leg in Game 6 on Thursday, has been ruled out for Saturday’s Game 7 against the 76ers.
Tatum had been listed as questionable with left knee stiffness earlier on Saturday.
What can we expect from Jayson Tatum in Game 7? — 5:30 p.m.
By Adam Himmelsbach
Some thoughts on the state of the Celtics as they prepare for Game 7 of their first-round playoff series against the 76ers at TD Garden on Saturday night . . .
⋅ Star forward Jayson Tatum acknowledged after Thursday’s Game 6 loss that he was dealing with tightness in his left leg during the game. After he checked out with four minutes left in the third quarter — part of his normal rotation pattern — he went to the locker room to be treated by Nick Sang, the trainer and close friend who oversaw his entire recovery from his right Achilles injury.
Obviously, the Celtics will ensure that Tatum is not at risk. But coach Joe Mazzulla, for one, had no interest in shedding further light on the situation during a conference call with reporters Friday afternoon.
I asked what precautions the team was taking to make sure Tatum would be fine.
“I mean, he said he was playing, right?” said Mazzulla.
Washburn: Adjustments? What adjustments? — 5:15 p.m.
By Gary Washburn
If Joe Mazzulla’s adjustment was for his team to make more shots to beat the rejuvenated 76ers, then it failed miserably, and it’s impossible to find any other changes the Celtics made from their putrid Game 5 performance.
So, unsurprisingly, Game 6 was another example of Mazzulla’s stubbornness and the Celtics’ weaknesses and limitations being on display in another closeout game. It got so bad Thursday night in South Philly that Mazzulla pulled his starters with 10:24 left while his team trailed by 23 points because, quite honestly, there was no reason to play his first unit. They were that awful.
Jaylen Brown couldn’t avoid turnovers, offensive fouls, and missed free throws. Jayson Tatum airballed two 3-pointers and then looked to the officials as the reason.
Meanwhile, Mazzulla is being badly outcoached by counterpart Nick Nurse. The Celtics still haven’t figured out a way to guard the pick-and-roll between Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, and now they are on the verge of blowing a 3-1 series lead with one more of these pathetic efforts.
Sullivan: For these Celtics, a dreaded Game 7 — 5:00 p.m.
By Tara Sullivan
They should be the best two words in sports. And usually, they are.
But not now, not with these Celtics, not in this series, not against this team.
Game 7. Celtics-76ers. Saturday. TD Garden.
Ugh.
From 3-1 up in this first-round playoff series, this once-charmed season suddenly faces extinction — the result of a second straight no-show, this time a 106-93 Game 6 blowout loss at raucous Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Amin Touri can be reached at amin.touri@globe.com. Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe. Julian Benbow can be reached at julian.benbow@globe.com.