Celtics are in a familiar spot, but they can't rely on last year's success heading into this Game 6

BOSTON -- The Celtics find themselves in a 3-2 series hole to the 76ers after their no-show in Game 5 on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, this is nothing new for these Celtics.

The Celtics continued their frustrating trend of losing games they have no business losing. They never played like they wanted to win on Tuesday night, instead looking like a team that showed up to work expecting a victory to be given to them. That is never the case in the NBA playoffs.

And now a team with title aspirations has its back against the wall in just the second round. Again.

This is how last season's second-round matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks played out. The Celtics and the Bucks split the first two games, before the C's blew Game 5 at home. Last year, they coughed up a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter in Game 5, which  didn't instill much confidence that they'd be able to earn a road win in Milwaukee a few nights later.

But staring down elimination woke them up. Jayson Tatum painted his masterpiece in Game 6, scoring 46 points to lead Boston to victory. With mojo back on their side, the Celtics blew out Milwaukee in Game 7 on Grant Williams' breakout performance.

"We've been in this position before," veteran Al Horford said Tuesday night. "It's not ideal. But we still have an opportunity. We understand what it takes to go on the road on Thursday."

"I've got the utmost faith in us," said Marcus Smart. "We've done it before, so we've just got to go do it again."

That's the attitude the Celtics should have, but it could also backfire in a big way. Expecting to win doesn't always work out for this team.

And while Horford and Smart are optimistic because of the past, Jaylen Brown says to throw that out the window. 

"Last year is over with," Brown said Tuesday. "We gotta come out and be better than we were [in Game 5] or we'll have a different ending."

That is the proper way to see it. Yes, the Celtics are capable of coming back, because they have done it before. But just because they did it then doesn't mean it will happen now. 

The biggest differences between this year's series against the 76ers and last year's against the Bucks is that the Celtics didn't squander a chance to go up 3-1 to Milwaukee. They never let the Bucks win two straight, and they never let the MVP (Giannis) get into his groove.

This year, the MVP that the Celtics are facing is very much in a groove. Joel Embiid has lit Boston up for at least 30 points in the last three games. He's absolutely feeling it, and he's been getting healthier as the series has gone on. James Harden is due for another big game, and the C's have had their trouble keeping Tyrese Maxey in check.

On their own end, Tatum has struggled to get going, putting his team in early holes the last two games. 

The Celtics can't show up Thursday night expecting to win because of their past success. They need to show up ready to fight tooth and nail for a victory.

"We've got to go into a hostile environment, and we got to just go take it. It's not going to be easy. It's going to be a dogfight, and it's who wants it more," Smart said of Game 6.

"If you're not willing to pretty much get dirty, if you're not willing to bleed, if you're not willing to break something, willing to tear something going hard, then you shouldn't be on that court, because that's what it is," he added. "That's what the playoffs are about. Hopefully you stay safe, but that's the mentality. You gotta go, you gotta be willing to risk it all for these games. And that's the mentality we've got to have."

The Celtics know that's the approach they need because they've had to do this before. It should give them confidence, but that confidence cannot turn into cockiness.

If that happens, everyone is in for a long summer.