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Celtic’ Bill Simmons points finger at Joe Mazzulla for collapse vs 76ers
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- Celtic’ Bill Simmons points finger at Joe Mazzulla for collapse vs 76ers
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The Boston Celtics just endured a nightmare first-round exit, blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Philadelphia 76ers . Now, The Ringer’s Bill Simmons points the finger squarely at head coach Joe Mazzulla .
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Despite casting a Coach of the Year vote for Mazzulla, the collapse completely baffled Simmons . Instead of leaning into the fast-paced, deep-rotation identity that dominated the regular season, Mazzulla seemingly treated a do-or-die playoff series like a laboratory experiment.
“They went back to their 2024 style without the same players,” Simmons lamented. “They slowed it down. They didn’t put up pace. They gave up on their bench.”
Simmons noted the second unit served as Boston’s true superpower. He highlighted energetic role players like Hugo and Walsh, who typically provided five or six minutes of maniacal effort. Instead of unleashing them, Mazzulla inexplicably shelved his depth . The coach chose to tinker with his bigs, explicitly aiming to “see what I had with Vucevic ” while shortening the rotation.
According to Simmons, Mazzulla treated the slugfest against Philly as a “litmus test” to evaluate rotations for hypothetical matchups against the New York Knicks or Detroit Pistons .
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That hubris backfired spectacularly , and the mishandling of Jayson Tatum compounded the disaster. After Tatum missed 62 games recovering from a ruptured Achilles, Mazzulla pushed his star dangerously hard. Tatum logged 39, 42, 35, and 41 minutes between Games 2 and 5. The heavy workload took its toll; Tatum sustained a lower leg injury in Game 6 and sat out Saturday’s decisive Game 7.
Without their superstar, Mazzulla’s desperation starting five made the wrong kind of history . Replacements Luka Garza, Baylor Scheierman , and Ron Harper Jr. combined for exactly zero points. They became the first starting trio to go scoreless in a playoff game since 1970-71.
Ultimately, Simmons believes two things remain true: Philly won the series, and Boston completely blew it.
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