5 reasons Boston Celtics lost Game 7, including cold shooting and empty gas tanks

BOSTON — Jayson Tatum was ruled out of the game and Joe Mazzulla responded with a wild starting lineup of Ron Harper Jr., Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza, Derrick White, and Jaylen Brown. Chaos ensued in a game full of wild runs and a lot of missed shots. The game looked lost at one point in the third quarter, but the Celtics stormed back to nearly take the lead. Of course “nearly” means they didn’t, and the Celtics season came crashing to an end.

Game Flow

The Celtics were frantic, playing with wild energy but they couldn't score much. The Sixers came out to an 11-3 run and held a 25-15 lead at the 2:38 TV timeout. The Celtics ended up shooting 7-20 in the first, scoring just 19 points while the Sixers feasted in the paint and led by 13.

The Celtics got it all back and then some thanks to a wild 18-4 run that included a maniacal stint from Hugo Gonzales, hot shooting (finally) from White, and nice contributions from Neemias Queta and Payton Pritchard. The Sixers answered with a run of their own, and opened up a five-point lead they carried into halftime.

The Celtics started the third quarter with Brown, White, Pritchard, Scheierman, and Queta, but Queta picked up his fourth foul almost immediately. The Sixers ripped off an 8-0 run leading to a Boston timeout. The Celtics went small in response and had so many chances to cash in on some momentum plays, but they couldn't hit anything. The Sixers, meanwhile, put together a 14-3 run to open up an 18-point lead, which settled at 13 going into the fourth.

The Celtics started the fourth on a 9-2 run, which extended to a 16-4 run that got the game to within a point. But they then missed nine straight field goal attempts, only getting a couple of Neemias Queta free throws in between, leaving an opening for Tyrese Maxey to finish them off.

Five reasons why they lost

They couldn't hit shots

They were 13-49 from three, which is bad enough on its own, but it felt like they were oh-for-every potential game-changing shot. Brown’s three-pointer with Boston down 99-98 and 3:24 remaining went halfway down and out, and it felt like that was their last, best chance. If that shot had fallen, the entire building might have caved in due to the crowd’s reaction.

This was the story of the game. They got open looks that just didn’t fall.

The Sixers couldn't miss

Paul George shot 1,204% in the series. Okay, he shot 49% overall and 55% (22-40) from three.

“Paul George was playing at a high level,” Brown said. “He was shooting the ball, for someone who just had his 36th birthday, he had a very efficient series, and he was very effective against some of the matchups that he was in.”

Tyrese Maxey shot 11-18 in this game and the Sixers not only shot 47.6% overall, they got to the line 23 times and hit 20.

The centers were not great (and Joel Embiid was)

Neemias Queta had 17 points and 11 rebounds but five personal fouls, spending a lot of time on the bench again. So he was effective when he was on the floor, but just not able to consistently stay on it.

Luka Garza started, played eight minutes, and was -15. Joe Mazzulla didn’t even try to go to Nikola Vucevic, who was decent in this series but never had a chance to consistently contribute.

Embiid, meanwhile, scored 34 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and dished six assists. It’s remarkable how a guy coming off an appendectomy was so unstoppable. He shouldn’t have been, but he was.

The role players didn’t score

This is not an exaggeration. Scheierman, Garza, Harper Jr., Jordan Walsh, and Hugo Gonzalez combined for ZERO points on 0-12 shooting. Just one bucket a piece could have won them the game.

They ran out of gas

Derrick White played the entire second, third, and fourth quarters. Pritchard played the entire second half and most of the second quarter. Brown, White, Hauer, Pritchard, and Queta played the entire fourth quarter, minus five seconds of Scheierman in for an offensive possession at the end.

They had no legs at the end, which is probably why they missed so many shots.

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