Facing elimination, it's time for the Celtics to put up or shut up

BOSTON -- The Celtics called Tuesday night's Game 5 a "must-win." They've said all postseason that they cannot afford to lose games that then force them to play more games, as they did throughout last postseason's run.

All of that has been just talk. Empty words that have been said because they are the right things to say. When it has been time to prove that those words are not hollow, the Celtics have failed.

The Celtics completely no-showed in Game 5 and were booed off their home court, falling flat on their faces in a 115-103 to the 76ers on Tuesday night. Facing elimination in Philadelphia on Thursday night, it's time for these Celtics to put up or shut up.

Boston was able to shake off a sluggish start in Sunday's Game 4 loss, but that was not the case Tuesday night. And there was no excuse for them to play so poorly in the first quarter for a second straight game, yet there it was again. Despite playing in front of their home crowd, the Celtics had no energy and no fight. 

That much was clear as the 76ers pulled down four offensive rebounds in the first five minutes. The Celtics standing around the basket didn't seem interested in out-muscling the likes of Joel Embiid and P.J. Tucker, expecting the ball to just come to them.

Much like they expected a win to just fall into their laps on Tuesday night.

"I thought our intentions were good. I thought we tried to play hard," said head coach Joe Mazzulla. "I thought we tried to play the right way, especially on the offensive end. I thought we got a lot of good looks early that didn't fall, and theirs did. And then I think when you're in that situation, you're just trying to win it back."

The coach later added: "I think we had the right intentions to play as hard as we could. Absolutely. I think when you have the intention of really, really wanting to win, it doesn't work out for you a little sometimes. And so I thought we had intentions of really, really wanting to win and trying to win. And sometimes when that happens, it has a negative effect. And so I think we just have to play with a freer mind, take a deep breath, and regardless of the situation, we've gotta be ready to play."

Huh? There is no trying to play hard. There is playing hard, and then there is not playing hard. The Celtics did not play hard on Tuesday night.

Mazzulla deserves his share of the blame for a number of reasons. But the total lack of effort falls on the players. We've now seen this strike at the worst possible times for three straight years under three different coaches. 

"The energy wasn't right," said Marcus Smart. "It could have been better, way better."

The Celtics are at their best when they get out and run, but they looked like a team stuck in the mud Tuesday night. They had just five fast-break points to Philly's 15. 

It certainly didn't help that the open looks that the team did generate weren't falling. Jayson Tatum was ice cold to start once again, missing his first six shots. He was just 3-for-11 at halftime, and though he ended up with 36 points, his early game missed put the team in a tough spot. 

Al Horford missed all seven his shots, all of which came from deep. Smart was just 2-for-7 while Malcolm Brogdon was only 3-for-9 off the bench. Jaylen Brown had the best night from the floor at 9-for-16, but he also missed five of his eight free-throw attempts.

Overall, the Celtics shot just 33-for-83 from the floor. They were worse from 3-point land, hitting just 12 of their 38 attempts. It was the seventh game all season that the Celtics have shot below 40 percent, with the team falling to 1-6 in those instances.

The 76ers, meanwhile, took advantage of Boston's so-so defense (which once again struggled mightily against Philly's pick-and-roll) and hit 50.7 percent of their shots (40-for-79) and 12 of their 30 threes. Joel Embiid was a monster with 33 points and seven boards, three of which came off the offensive glass. James Harden was just OK with 18 points, but Tyrese Maxey was electric with 30 points, hitting six of his dozen shots from deep. On the glass, the Celtics were out-rebounded 49-39. 

"Everything. Everything went wrong," said Smart. "They made every right play. They made every hustle play. Everything went wrong for us that can go wrong." 

Now, the Celtics have to make sure everything goes right on Thursday night. If they're looking for a blueprint of what not to do, they have the perfect example in Tuesday night's game tape.

"We got a resilient group, and tonight, it seemed like the door just wouldn't open," said Brown, who had 24 points in the loss. "It seemed like we couldn't get nothing going, and every game got its own story. That's the beauty of basketball, so I believe in my guys so I think we can come out and be inspired to play next game."

We'd like to think that the Celtics learned an important lesson on Tuesday night. They've talked plenty about lessons learned all season long.

But talk is cheap, and at this point, it's not going to do them any good. With their backs against the wall, the Celtics need to put their money where their mouth is, otherwise there's going to be a lot of talk -- and not the good kind -- all summer long.