The Boston Celtics have relapsed.
Last season, the Celtics were ousted from the playoffs in somewhat shocking fashion by the New York Knicks after dropping the first two games of the series at home, mostly due to their stubborn volume shooting playstyle. Boston would later be eliminated in six games, Jayson Tatum ruptured his Achilles, and the trajectory of the franchise appeared to be changed for good.
But 11 months later, the Celtics are back at the top of the Eastern Conference, have Tatum back and looking like his old self, and won 56 games carried by Jaylen Brown’s aggressive, hard-working playstyle.
76ers most to blame for ugly Game 1 loss to Celtics in 2026 NBA playoffs
It certainly looked like heading into the postseason, the Celtics of old which were plagued by a dire commitment to shoot the three and an overall soft work ethic were replaced by a team that had a new identity. Sure, under Joe Mazzulla, Boston will always be a volume shooting team, but it wasn’t as extreme in 2025-26 as it has been the last two seasons.
Tuesday night against Philadelphia told a different story. Back in the postseason and being tested for the first time — after a blowout win in Game 1 — the Celtics fell back into their old ways when faced with the slightest bit of adversity.
Boston shot 50 threes in its Game 2 loss, missing 37 of them. For reference, in Games 1 and 2 against the Knicks last year the Celtics shot 60 and 40 threes respectively.
This latest relapse won’t cost Boston this series, but last year gave all the necessary evidence to show it will cost them the next one. If that does happen then perhaps bigger changes will be made.
Here are three things the Celtics need to change in order to regain control of the series in Philadelphia.
1. Control Philly’s Guards
If Game 2 made anything clear it is that the 76ers’ winning formula is quite apparent. Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe need to be dominant and carry the majority of the offensive load, especially with Joel Embiid on the shelf.
That’s just what they did on Tuesday night, combining for 59 points and crushing the Celtics beyond the arc, shooting 11-for-22 from deep.
Both Maxey and Edgecombe are dealing most of their damage off the pick and roll, where they average 26.5 points (most in NBA this postseason). They also run the action the most times at 26%.
Maxey specifically buried the dagger into the Celtics’ backs late in the fourth quarter after they cut the lead to 91-89 off the pick and roll. Boston was defending the play with drop coverage, giving the ball handler space off the pick to step up and shoot. Maxey made them pay, sticking two-straight threes to balloon the lead to eight points and effectively end the game.
Edgecombe on the other hand scored 30 points in his first career playoff victory, and looked nothing like you would expect a rookie to look like on the road in the postseason. The guard’s terrific second quarter in which he scored 16 points propelled the 76ers to a lead they never relinquished.
If Boston’s going to end this series in short order, ideally in five games, making Game 2 an aberration in what should be a lengthy run, then it is going to need to make Maxey and Edgecombe uncomfortable.
The Celtics will need to address how they want to defend the 76ers’ guards off the pick and roll. Whether that is bringing help from an extra defender, or having their big men come up higher and hopefully stay in front, the Cs just can’t sit and hope they don’t shoot the ball as well as they did on Tuesday.
2. White and Pritchard Need to Deliver
While Philadelphia’s guards carried it to a win in Game 2, Boston’s guards were a major reason why it couldn’t win.
Derrick White and Payton Pritchard combined for just 12 points and 5-for-20 shooting. White specifically underdelivered from deep, shooting 10 of his 12 attempts from deep, making just two of them.
White’s shooting issues isn’t one that just emerged in recent days either, it’s been one that has followed the guard the entire season. This year, White is shooting 32% from deep, his lowest average since joining the team in 2022. Typically, White hovers around 38% from three, and in 2024 — when Boston won the title — he shot nearly 40% from deep.
White, as the team’s established third option, flat out needs to be better. The Celtics will be fine getting by the 76ers in the end if White isn’t playing to his ceiling, but if they expect to compete for a title, let alone one in the East, then he’s going to need to find his old game.
The problem is that White hasn’t been his old self for large stretches of this season.
Pritchard on the other hand has had one of his better seasons this year, shooting 37% from three in a season in which his usage was at a career high. He hasn’t been great in two games this postseason, but there is definitely more wiggle room for the bench guard to bounce back.
Tatum and Brown can’t do it all. They’ll need consistent scoring options that they can rely on when opposing defenses hone in on the stars. Unless Boston thinks it can rely on the likes of Baylor Scheierman and Sam Hauser to take on an increased load throughout a postseason run, it better hope White can figure out his shooting touch — and fast.
3. Bombs Away
The three-pointers aren’t the end all be all for why the Celtics won’t win the championship this year, or advance deep into the East. In reality, playing defense with more effort than they did on Tuesday probably wins the Celtics the game, despite the fact they missed 37 threes.
But it will be the glaring issue, it will be what everyone points the finger to as to why the Celtics failed for the second-consecutive season.
Quite frankly, Boston isn’t a good enough team in postseason play to shoot high volume threes at the rate needed to win the same way it did two years ago.
Guys like Hauser, Scheierman and Nikola Vucevic cannot be counted on to hit consistent threes. Tatum and Brown will more often than not deliver solid numbers, but when they don’t, as seen from last night, Boston will be fighting an uphill battle.
Tatum isn’t clear of blame either. On Tuesday, the Celtics cut the lead to 91-89, with momentum back on their side, and were running up the court with a chance to take the lead. Instead of setting up a good possession, Tatum immediately shot a three with well over 15 seconds left on the shot clock. That’s not a winning possession.
The Celtics didn’t have many winning possessions on Tuesday, but the panic buttons shouldn’t be slammed just yet.
The Verdict: A Wake-Up Call, Not a Funeral
Mazzulla, Brown and the rest of this group have done the work necessary to earn a bit of good will in hoping they can get back to the style of play that worked so well for them this season.
The series is tied 1-1. The Celtics have home-court advantage. They have the better roster. They have the experience.
But they also have a relapse to overcome. The three-point volume that plagued them last season returned in Game 2. The defensive lapses that cost them against the Knicks reappeared.
The Celtics are still the favorites. But if they fall back into their old habits again, they will be watching the Eastern Conference finals from home.
Game 3 is Friday in Philadelphia. The Celtics have two days to fix what broke. And they have no margin for error.