Joe MaFFulla

The Boston Celtics played poised, tough basketball on Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia. Despite some early hot shooting from James Harden and Joel Embiid, the Celtics fought back into the game and had a chance to win. But their coach let them down in multiple ways down the stretch.

The first way was refusing to call time out before the final possession of both regulation and overtime. The Celtics got zero points out of both plays. The second time, it was fatal, and it was clear the team took too long to run their play. That is a direct result of the coach's failure. After more than 52 grueling minutes, you need a beat to think it over. On the other side of the court, Philly coach Doc Rivers did not hesitate to call time out with 26 seconds left, because he knew it would be Philly's last guaranteed possession. More on that in a second. Mazzulla refused, even though he had two time outs remaining at the end of overtime.

At that point, Tatum had played almost precisely 47 minutes. Jaylen Brown was at 44. You have to give your guys a breather and call a definitive play. Instead, the Celtics burned more than 10 seconds trying to figure out what to do. To Tatum's credit, he found an open shot. Marcus Smart was wide open and hit his three. But he was a half second too late.

Going back to the Sixers' final possession, we see Mazzulla again got completely pantsed by Rivers. On the inbounds, Mazzulla matched up Smart on Embiid. But a simple switch put Tatum on Embiid, perhaps for the very first time in the series (I can't recall another time Tatum has guarded him). That's a big mismatch, and advantage Sixers. But the worst that should have happened there was Embiid puts in a shot close to the rim to tie it up. Instead, Jaylen Brown lazily double teamed Embiid, leaving James Harden – the game's leading scorer, and Philly's most lethal three-point shooter – WIDE. OPEN. To his credit, Brown took full responsibility for the lapse. That's the kind of accountability you want from one of your team leaders. But it wasn't his fault. Collapsing into the paint like that has been the team's strategy all season.

There are a lot of things Mazzulla has done differently than Ime Udoka did last year, but one of the most glaring differences are these lazy, half-in-half-our collapses into the paint that leave shooters wide open. It's cost the Celtics time and again when opponents drill wide open threes, and today's final shot was a microcosm of that strategy throughout the season. It absolutely defies logic that on the biggest play of the game, you would leave the opposing team's best shooter wide open. But that is how Mazzulla has instructed his players to defend.

Perhaps this wouldn't have been an issue if Mazzulla had thought through the switches so that Horford was matched up on Embiid once Embiid received the ball. Perhaps in that scenario, Brown stays home. You would certainly think that would have been a priority for Mazzulla, given that Horford ate Embiid's lunch the entire second half and overtime – Embiid was 4-for-14 from the floor after halftime, including 1-for-6 in the fourth quarter. Mazzulla had a whole time out to game plan his defensive strategy. But he didn't. He got caught napping, and the Sixers knew exactly what to do.

This is two late-game situations where Mazzulla's poor strategy essentially forced the Celtics to play with one hand tied behind their back – three if you want to count each time out not called separately. And it is too deep in the playoffs to keep doing that. Two F's for Joe Mazzulla.

Tatum's Final Final Evolution

After starting the game 0-for-8, Tatum hit a long two just before halftime. He would shoot 8-f0r-11 from that point on, and was sensational. For the game, he pulled down 18 boards, had six assists against just two turnovers, and had four critical blocks. The 18 rebounds was a playoff career high, and the four blocks tied a playoff career high (he has done it in two other playoff games). But there will likely be criticism of his decision to pass out of the opportunity to shoot on the final possessions of regulation and overtime.

I think criticism of the final play of regulation is warranted. Watching both in real time and on the replay, I thought Tatum had a favorable one-on-one matchup against a shorter player in Tyrese Maxey, and after driving, he could have pulled up/stepped back for a 10-12 foot baseline jumper. That's a good look. Instead, he kept driving until he drew Embiid's attention, and passed out to Smart. Smart had a clean look at it, but the decision there is part of Tatum's final final evolution.

Last season, Tatum's decision making rose to a new level of effectiveness. He learned how to pass out of double teams and find his teammates for wide open shots. It was one of his many evolutions that helped Boston get to the NBA Finals. A lot of people called it his final evolution. But to me, his final final evolution will be determining when his contested shot is still the best option and just taking that shot. I love Marcus Smart with my entire chest, but I want Tatum shooting in that situation.

At the end of overtime, he made the right play. Embiid stepped up even more than he did at the end of regulation, and was there to meet Tatum at the rim. Tatum shooting that shot with Tobias Harris and Maxey trailing him, and Embiid in front of him, was a bad idea. The problem there was he started too late.

As I've said, in both cases, I think Mazzulla's decision to not call time out was a problem. The first time, he could have reminded his superstar that Embiid would be waiting in the paint, and to not drive too far. That him getting matched up on Maxey was the best percentage play the C's could get, because it is the one guy on the court who is not even capable of challenging Tatum's shot. But Tatum bears some responsibility as well, especially at the end of regulation, as much as it pains me to admit it. Of course, it was Tatum's responsibility to begin with because Brown disappeared in the second half.

Driving Home the Point

I just want to look at the final non-time out call one more time. Mazzulla really could have bought his team valuable seconds in this instance. It took the C's exactly 4.2 seconds to get the ball over half court. Harden hit his three with 18.2 seconds left. Smart got the ball to half court with 14 seconds left:

That is 4.2 seconds the Celtics absolutely did not have to waste. Did Smart and Tatum then take a little too long to get into the action? Yes. 100%. Absolutely. But wasting those 4.2 seconds was an unacceptable unforced error. You give them back even one of those seconds, and it's 3-1 instead of 2-2.

The Celtics still have homecourt advantage, and should still win this series. I firmly believe that. Despite the miscalculations, you can zoom out and count this as good of a loss as you can possibly have. Embiid and Harden combined for 76 points and Philly only won by a single point. They should win in a rout when those guys have that many points. Instead, unlike so many other teams this postseason who have folded after going down by 15+ points, the Celtics fought back, like they always do, and they were right there. But unfortunately, they also have to fight through their own coach's stubbornness and growing pains.