rolled the 76ers easily enough in Game 1<\/a> that many thought the series would be a snoozer.<\/p>\nAfter getting outclassed in Game 2, including being outscored 20-8 over the final 5:39, the Celtics aren\u2019t playing with house money anymore. They are now a heavy favorite in danger. Widely regarded as a title contender, Boston lost homecourt advantage to a 76ers team without Joel Embiid (appendix). The Celtics were wiped out by Tyrese Maxey down the stretch Tuesday, setting up an uncomfortable couple of days for them before Friday night\u2019s Game 3 in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to it,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to the film session. We\u2019re still learning and growing as a team, so these opportunities you can look at it as a negative or you can look at it as a positive. So we\u2019ll learn from it and then we\u2019ll get back to Celtics basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, Brown has been in such situations before. He could have ripped his team apart Tuesday. He is not afraid to send a harsh message if he considers it appropriate, and he believed the 76ers outcompeted the Celtics. Instead, Brown acknowledged his disappointment while striking an optimistic tone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve just got to continue to have the right mentality and have each other\u2019s back, and just breathe,\u201d Brown said. \u201cAt the end of the day it\u2019s basketball, but you\u2019ve got to still play with a force. We can\u2019t allow the other team to take advantage of us, in a way, offensively or defensively. So, it\u2019s going to be a journey. It\u2019s going to be some ups and some downs, but I\u2019m looking forward to it with my guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Until Tuesday, the Celtics\u2019 journey was one of warm sunshine and delicious candy. They were set up for a significant drop off, but Brown, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard and coach Joe Mazzulla wouldn\u2019t let that happen. They lacked proven players in the supporting cast, but developed one of the deepest rosters anyway. It was far-fetched to expect Jayson Tatum to play at an All-Star level after returning from a torn Achilles, but he did, elevating the team to greater heights after he came back in March.<\/p>\n
The Celtics experienced their most basketball adversity early, when they started the season on a three-game losing streak. They bounced back quickly enough that the emotions of that stretch never lingered. From there, they became a rocket ship climbing higher and higher. Several players have stated how much they have enjoyed this season, including Brown, who has done so repeatedly.<\/p>\n
Brown has plenty of reason to believe in his team. After Game 2, he chose to focus on that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI trust our group,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWe\u2019ve grown a lot over the course (of the season). Obviously this is the ultimate test, playing in the playoffs, and we\u2019ve got players who have gotten better and developed, and we\u2019re gonna rely on them. I trust them to come out and make those plays and contribute to the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Philadelphia's](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2271892145-scaled-e1776842608418.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Tyrese Maxey had Jaylen Brown and the Celtics off-kilter in Game 2. (Adam Glanzman \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Moving forward, the Celtics will need to do a better job of limiting the 76ers backcourt. Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, stifled in the series opener, operated with more freedom while combining for 59 points in Game 2. Though Tatum pointed out that Maxey only shot 11 for 28 from the field, the Philadelphia duo delivered timely baskets throughout the game. After Boston pulled within 91-89 midway through the fourth quarter, Maxey drained consecutive 3-pointers to fend off the charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaxey just walked into two big threes back-to-back when we had cut the lead to two,\u201d Brown said. \u201cSo we\u2019ll watch it and see what we can be better at there. But that was two big momentum plays that helped them pull away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maxey then essentially finished off the Celtics with an and-one reverse layup to put Philadelphia ahead 108-92 with 2:42 left. Mazzulla subbed out his starters for good less than a minute later.<\/p>\n
The Celtics actually came out with the right mindset early in Game 2, playing with a nasty edge for most of the first quarter. Early in the game, Brown stared at Adem Bona after unleashing a powerful dunk on him. Though he picked up a technical foul for the taunt, his attitude reflected Boston\u2019s impressive aggression. The Celtics played well enough while surging ahead 26-13 that 76ers coach Nick Nurse instructed his team to just hang on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought they were spectacular to start,\u201d Nurse said. \u201cI mean, they were flying. They were making everything. They were just running in to jump over everybody for rebounds. And I just said, \u2018Listen, you\u2019re pretty solid down there.\u2019 I said, \u2018They\u2019re great right now and let\u2019s believe that they\u2019re not going to be this great the whole game and just hang in there.\u2019 And our guys did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike in Game 1, when the Celtics added to their lead in every quarter, the 76ers fought back in Game 2. Andre Drummond, who failed to grab an offensive rebound in the series opener, batted in a putback layup late in the first quarter. Shortly afterward, Quentin Grimes splashed in a 3-pointer and Maxey intercepted a Payton Pritchard pass for a fast-break layup the other way. The 76ers ended the first quarter with another second-chance basket to cut Boston\u2019s lead to 28-25.<\/p>\n
Edgecombe, who finished with 30 points and 10 rebounds, then dominated the second quarter with 16 points as the Celtics fell behind 62-54 going into halftime.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the second quarter we gave up 37 points,\u201d Tatum said. \u201cDoing that in a playoff game is tough. It\u2019s not a recipe for a win and you got to give them credit. They played better, obviously, and that was to be expected. Some live ball turnovers, some offensive rebounds that we gave up and then obviously, when you\u2019re not hitting shots, it just puts more pressure on your defense. That\u2019s kind of what happened tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like Brown, Tatum didn\u2019t sound too down after the loss.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlayoffs are a roller coaster,\u201d Tatum said. \u201cI think what I\u2019ve learned throughout my nine years in the playoffs is just stay even-keeled throughout, right? And I think the team that sticks together and does that from an emotional standpoint will be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Celtics have stayed together all season, but until now, they never had pressure pulling on them like this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BOSTON \u2014 Jaylen Brown clapped his hands together a couple of times before walking off the court with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":715827,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3769],"tags":[679,7,75,6,678,207,3817],"class_list":{"0":"post-715826","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-76ers","8":"tag-76ers","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-philadelphia","13":"tag-philadelphia-76ers","14":"tag-philadelphia76ers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116448230656119512","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/715827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}