The Celtics have already accepted Game 6. Now they have one last chance.
PHILADELPHIA – Jaylen Brown grabbed the basketball and hit it on his forehead in frustration.
Hugo Gonzalez, who usually jumps off the Celtics bench at the start of each timeout, tried to high-five Brown with his usual 20-year-old jubilation.
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But, as Gonzalez’s hand slapped Brown’s, the Celtics star looked stunned, seemingly still processing a performance that fell far short of the high standard he set in his All-NBA-caliber season.
In Brown’s 28 minutes on the court in Game 6, the Celtics were outscored by 24 points. He made just 7 of 17 field goal attempts and turned the ball over five times (two of which were due to offensive fouls).
The result was a 106-93 loss for the Celtics.
Brown, along with the rest of the Celtics’ starters, exited the game with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
He then watched a Celtics bench unit — led by Payton Pritchard, Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman, Ron Harper Jr. and Luka Garza — play at a pace and with a fervor that the Celtics couldn’t muster through the first three quarters.
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“They just played harder,” Brown said afterward. “That group came out: they were able to get into the championship because they played harder. In the group before we didn’t play hard enough.”
The crowd on the bench recovered 9 points from the deficit, but it wasn’t enough.
The Celtics’ season will depend on Game 7, win or go home, at TD Garden.
How the Celtics reacted to their Game 6 loss
When I walked into the Celtics’ locker room Thursday night, I expected to see a locker room in mourning, one knowing it had squandered a 3-1 lead, one knowing the tide had completely turned.
But, while the visiting locker room was not at jovial place, also was not defeated.
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Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard stood in the corner with towels, discussing what went wrong and how they could fix it in the next 48 hours.
That conversation continued to include Baylor Scheierman.
“Game 7,” Brown told the trio. “We need every rebound.”
Then, about 20 minutes later, at the podium, Brown was calm.
He admitted several times that he didn’t play well enough. Which should have suited up before Game 7.
“There are definitely some things that I see that I can improve on,” Brown said.
And he was much more optimistic than I expected after such a wasted opportunity.
“All things considered, we’re in a great position to come home for Game 7,” Brown said. “I expect a great atmosphere and a great fight from our group. The last two games haven’t been the best, but we keep going. So I’m looking forward to it and I’m excited for Game 7.”
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In the locker room, Pritchard echoed that sentiment. I asked him if there was any way to counter the reality that they were up 3-1 and had lost two straight games, and that Philadelphia had all the momentum.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Pritchard said. “It’s one game. It’s like the NCAA Tournament: You’ve got to win one or go home. So, that’s the only thing on our minds.”
The Celtics will have to fight the current, the natural flow of momentum that Philadelphia is carrying, fight the reality that they were only a good third quarter away from securing the series in five games.
“What happened happened and you can’t do anything about it,” Mazzulla said. “At the end of the day, we had another game. And we have to be ready to play. And we have an opportunity to win.”
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It might help that they’ve been there before; Jaylen Brown is 6-2 in Game 7s for his entire career and Jayson Tatum is 5-2.
“A lot of us have been in this situation before, Game 7,” Tatum said. “So it should be fun.”
Celtics-76ers kicks off at 7:30 PM ET at TD Garden. It will serve as a last chance to right the ship.
“We have to respond,” Brown said. “[It] we could take a deep breath, look at what we got, watch the film, take responsibility and come out and play with a great fight.