The Philadelphia 76ers stunned the Boston Celtics by winning the crucial Game 5 on the latter's home floor, 115-103, to take a 3-2 series lead.
When asked what went wrong with the team, Celtics guard Marcus Smart had a blunt one-word answer: "Everything."
What went wrong tonight?
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) May 10, 2023
Marcus Smart: “Everything.”
Read more: Is Immanuel Quickley Playing in Game 5 vs. Heat?
Celtics' Woes Continue
Celtics star Jayson Tatum had a rough start in the game, missing all of his five shots during the first quarter.
While Tatum recovered from the slow start by finishing 36 points, the rest of the team struggled on the floor. Veteran Al Horford went blank from the field, shooting 0-of-7. Jaylen Brown uncharacteristically shot 3-of-8 from the free-throw line.
Jaylen Brown shot 3-of-8 from the free throw line tonight and Al Horford shot 0-of-7 from the field.
Prior to tonight, Brown had only 2 such games of 3-of-8 from the FT line (min. 8 FTA) and Horford had one such game shooting 0-of-7 FG or worse (min. 7 FGA) pic.twitter.com/SN7nHzKsls— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 10, 2023
The Celtics, as a whole, shot a measly 39.8% from the floor and 12/38 (31.6%) from beyond the arc.
On the other hand, the Sixers shot 50.6% from the floor and 12/30 (40%) from long distance while holding a 49-36 rebounding lead throughout the game.
Facing the verge of elimination, this is not a new situation for this Celtics team. Last year, also during the Eastern Conference Semifinals against then-defending champions Milwaukee Bucks, Boston also dropped Game 5 of the series.
They went on to win the next two games of the series to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals of that year.
Marcus Smart remained confident in his team's chances, citing their previous experience in similar situations.
How can Celtics bounce back?
Smart: “It's easy. We’ve been there before. It's one game at a time. So you know they're feeling good. We got to go into a hostile environment and we got to go take it. It's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be a dogfight.”— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) May 10, 2023
"It's easy. We've been there before. It's one game at a time. So you know they're feeling good. We got to go into a hostile environment and we got to go take it. It's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be a dogfight," Smart said.
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