Six Reasons Boston Celtics Lost Game 5 to Sixers, Including 'Messing Around' Too Much

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics looked to be doing the thing everyone expected them to do, going up 13 in the third quarter, but they were out-scored 63-34 after that, scoring just 11 points in a disaster fourth quarter, losing Game 5 113-97, forcing a Game 6 in Philadelphia Thursday night.

Here are six reasons why they lost

The Celtics “messed around with the game”

They had a 13-point lead in the third quarter and then they started to try to make individual plays rather than move the ball and put the Sixers away. What is this from Jaylen Brown?

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— John Karalis (@JohnKaralisClip) April 29, 2026

Look at who he had open.

Jaylen Brown passing options — Screenshot

The Celtics had 18 assists at halftime. They had seven in the second half. Of course, you have to hit shots to get assists, but you also have to move the ball to get shots. The Celtics did neither in the second half.

“I thought we had a decent first half,” Payton Pritchard said. “I just think we were just a little lackadaisical at times when we could have put them away. We just messed around with the game and when you have a team on the brink of elimination, you really got to put your foot on foot on the gas and finish it. I thought we'd let them have life at times that they didn't need to.”

It felt like they expected the Sixers to roll over and die. Of course, I expected them to roll over and die, myself, but the Celtics have to make them do it.

Boston played at Joel Embiid’s pace, and he torched them

This is particularly infuriating because Embiid is not in shape and not 100%, but the Celtics let him do whatever he wanted at his own pace.

They couldn't put him in many actions, they didn’t push the tempo to a point that made him uncomfortable. They just played slow, isolated too much, and let him dictate the terms of engagement.

Part of this is because Neemias Queta, again, got himself into foul trouble. He had some moments of really good play, but that was short-lived in the second half because he continued to get stupid fouls like reaching in and slapping Andre Drummond 90 feet from the rim when the Sixers were in the bonus.

They needed Queta against Embiid and he’s making it impossible to play him. Embiid is getting minutes against Nikola Vucevic and Luka Garza and he’s crushing them on post ups.

And on the other end, I saw time and time again that the Celtics looked like they were afraid to go up on Embiid on drives, as if he’s Victor Wembanyama. Pritchard was the only one driving effectively on Embiid all night.

I can’t say this any more clearly: Embiid is a liability for the Sixers. The Celtics should be playing him off the floor.

They couldn't hit a thing

They shot 40.4% overall and 28% from three. They didn’t hit a field goal in the final seven minutes of the fourth, missing 16 shots in a row. They were 11-39 from three. They were even 14-23 (61%) from the free throw line.

Sometimes it just comes down making and missing shots, and there was some of that baked into all of this. That included …

Quentin Grimes got hot

He had 18 points on 4-7 shooting from three. He outscored Payton Pritchard, which really hurt. He did most of his damage in the second half when the Celtics were squandering their lead.

They Jays were awful down the stretch

Tatum didn’t score in the fourth and got two field goal attempts. Brown scored two points and was 0-6 from the field.

They got too frustrated about fouls, too caught up in isolating, and they played right into Philadelphia’s hands.

Boston’s offense is at its best when the ball moves. It has to move to get everyone going.

Derrick White is in a massive slump

He had two WIDE OPEN threes in the fourth and just flat missed them both. He was 0-4 from three in the game scoring just six points. This was one of his worst overall games in Boston in a long time.

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