PHILADELPHIA — Nikola Vučević held court before the Celtics’ most important game of the season on Thursday, impressed by the Celtics’ championship mettle and ability to withstand Tuesday’s ghastly collapse. The flight an hour south and shootaround before Game 6 felt normal, he remarked.
“It’s been pretty normal. This is a very experienced group. Guys that have obviously won the championship, they’ve been to the playoffs so many times, most of those guys. So they know what it takes and the thing in general in the NBA, you can’t panic, regardless of if you win or lose. You have to stay in the middle ground and understand everybody’s good in the playoffs and anybody can beat anybody on any given night. We had a great opportunity to close out at home, we didn’t do our job, but you have to move onto the next one and come here. You understand the importance of it, but you don’t try to make too big of a deal out of it, because it can affect you, so you try to just focus on the things that you can control.”
Joe Mazzulla stressed a similar sentiment after Game 5 that extended through the season. They wanted to maintain the same mentality after wins and losses, so he stressed the positives that helped the team mount a 13-point lead in the third quarter. He liked the shots they attempted in the fourth quarter despite finishing with 14 straight misses and 11 points. The Celtics still hold a 3-2 series lead, won both road games already and boast a 25-11 record away from home since the 2021-22 postseason began.
They’re focused on eliminating unnecessary fouls, particularly ones that have landed Neemias Queta on the bench for more than half of the games so far. Vučević saw progress from his fellow center last game, but still pointed out the same back court foul on Joel Embiid that Mazzulla did after the game, which can’t happen.
“Physicality was a big thing, especially in the second half,” Vučević said. “They were the ones being more physical, getting us out of position offensively, and then also on the defensive end, certain mistakes we made that we talked about, but a lot of things we talked about that we didn’t execute as a team … try to do our job a little earlier. At one point in the third quarter, I think he was just getting to his spot a little too easy, so just have to do a better job of trying to make the catch a little tougher for him, make him catch the ball a little further from the basket, and put up a little more resistance on his first, second dribble when he’s getting to the paint. It’s hard if … he gets into the paint. There isn’t a lot of help that can come. It happens so quick. So that’s something that we have to do better. He got a couple on me in Game 5.”
Elsewhere, Derrick White mixed his set shots, movement threes, high-arcing attempts and mid-rangers with floaters from the far end of the court inside the Sixers’ arena. He and assistant Matt Reynolds did their usual trick shot game, and while misses mounted in both that session and the games prior, White said he’s trying to shake off a 29.8% start from the field in the series (21.2% 3PT) rather than over-analyzing misses. They have watched, however, where his shots came from through the first five games compared to in previous spots.
He’s attempted 33 of his 47 shot attempts from three to begin the series, leaving him struggling from two as well (7-14 FG, 50%), but also without opportunities to consistently reach the free throw line (6-7 FTA). White attempted 3.3 free throws per game last postseason despite finishing with a relatively similar percentage of his shot attempts (70%) coming from behind the three-point line. Jayson Tatum saw his turnaround as only a matter of time after Game 3, but White’s attempts dipped to five in Game 4 and eight in Game 5 after that. His potential game-tying look, wide open in the corner, with seven minutes left on Tuesday began the Celtics’ offensive demise.
Mazzulla rolled with him for 10 minutes in the final frame, inserting Payton Pritchard for only four minutes in place of Sam Hauser. The Celtics have held some cards to this point, a Jayson Tatum center lineup would allow numerous offensive creators and floor-spacers to share the floor. Baylor Scheierman’s minutes have been sparse despite him shooting well all series. Luka Garza’s minutes have increased as Queta and Vučević struggle with fouling.
“Game 4, (Pritchard) had it going,” White said. “Sometimes that happens throughout the course of a game or a series. So just gotta try to be a little bit more aggressive. I think I can do that, but just take what the game says and then go from there.”
