The Boston Celtics’ season ended Saturday night with a 109-100 Game 7 loss to Philadelphia, and head coach Joe Mazzulla pointed directly to execution, not philosophy.
“I love the looks that we got. I love the process that we had. But I hate the result,” Mazzulla said postgame after Boston shot 13-for-49 from three.
Boston’s offensive identity, built around spacing and shot quality, held firm even as the shots stopped falling.
“No,” Mazzulla said when asked if his team relied too heavily on jump shooting. “I thought we did a great job reading the two-on-ones, taking what the defense gave us… you got to make shots.”
The Celtics shot just 27% from deep, while Philadelphia hit 39%, a gap that shaped the series outcome.
“When you do, you got to make shots. You have to be able to do that. And we got some great ones and we just didn’t make them,” Mazzulla added.
Despite trailing by as many as 18 points, Boston cut the deficit to one in the fourth quarter before missing key opportunities.
“I thought we competed like hell defensively,” Mazzulla said. “We had a couple great looks to take the lead… and we just didn’t make them.”
The Celtics played without Jayson Tatum, who was ruled out shortly before tipoff, forcing major lineup adjustments.
“I thought there was a couple things we saw tactically we wanted to test out… give the series a different feel,” Mazzulla said of the starting lineup changes.
Boston fell behind early but stayed within reach due to defensive pressure and second-half adjustments.
“At no point during that game did I think we were going to lose it just because of who they are as competitors,” Mazzulla said.
Jaylen Brown led Boston with 33 points, while Derrick White added 26 and Neemias Queta posted 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Still, the absence of consistent shot-making and Philadelphia’s efficiency proved decisive.
“What changed in the series was Joel Embiid came back and they’re a completely different team,” Mazzulla said. “That’s what changed.”
Embiid finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, while Tyrese Maxey added 30 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
Boston’s season, which included a 56-26 record and the No. 2 seed in the East, ended earlier than expected.
“When you don’t win a championship… there’s always going to be a level of we have to do better,” Mazzulla said.
He emphasized the team’s mentality over the result.
“I thought we came in with a championship mentality from the beginning of the year,” he said. “The guys just put their head down and went to work.”
Mazzulla also addressed the broader perspective of winning and losing.
“When you go after greatness you have to accept the other side of that… we’ve failed by not winning,” he said. “But we stick to the process.”
Boston became just the second team in franchise history to lose a series after leading 3-1, finishing 32-1 in those situations prior to this loss.
“I think just who they are as competitors,” Mazzulla said when asked what he would remember most. “I’m grateful that I got to coach them.”
