TJ MorinWed, April 29, 2026 at 6:58 PM UTC·2 min readCeltics Game 5 loss further proves Boston's reliance on the three-point line can be a kryptonite originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Boston Celticslost their closeout game to the Philadelphia 76ers yesterday, and it was pretty clear why. Now, the C’s will head back to Philly, where they will try to close out once again to move on to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
However, they will need to hammer home their mistakes from Game 2 and 5 in order to be ready for 6. That includes hitting their win condition, and dealing with the new X-factor known as Joel Embiid.
In their second loss of the playoffs, the Celtics once again did not hit their quota for threes. It has been observed that the Celtics need to hit 15 threes to win a playoff game since the start of Mazzula ball, and if they hit 12 or less, they are pretty much going to lose.
In Game 2, the Celtics hit 13 threes out of 50 attempts. In Game 5, they hit 11 threes out of 39 attempts. Both times they didn’t hit 15, and didn’t even hit above 12, which puts them in a grey area for a win. Also, in both losses, the Celtics only managed to score 97 points, instead of their winning average of 112.
2023 MVP and Sixers franchise cornerstone Joel Embiid returned in Game 4, and he really didn’t make much of a difference. However, in Game 5, he was dominant, finishing with 33 points and leading Philly to victory.
However, Embiid does provide Boston with something crucial: the ability to shoot even more threes. When Embiid is put into a pick and roll as a defender, he likes to sag and play in the interior. This means either another player has to cover the ball-handler, or let him shoot a three.
The Celtics had plenty of those opportunities, but failed to convert many of them.
The Celtics are still one of the best teams in the NBA. Two of their three wins against Philly were blowouts, and one of those blow outs was in Philly. If the Celtics can once again come to Philly and dominate, they have nothing to worry about.
And, if they somehow lose, they still have one more game on their home court. Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that, and the Celtics are able to move on.
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