Brad Stevens Admits Celtics’ Fatal Shortcomings In Shocking Playoff Exit originally appeared on NESN.
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Just one week after winning NBA Executive of the Year, Brad Stevens gave a solemn press conference on Wednesday in the wake of the Boston Celtics‘ shocking first-round playoff exit against the Philadelphia 76ers.
A lot went wrong for the Celtics during their historic collapse, which saw them blow a 3-1 series lead by losing three straight games, including two at home. Boston’s offense went cold over the final nine quarters, missing a ton of 3-pointers and struggling to generate good looks.
During Wednesday’s press conference, Stevens acknowledged where the Celtics went wrong against the Sixers.
Brad Stevens when asked about the Celtics’ 3-pt attempt rate spiking in the playoffs:
“I thought we struggled to generate really good shots on our first possession.”
He also notes that in the last two postseasons, they struggled to get to the rim and that they need to add to… pic.twitter.com/sv7l0e2cJJ
— Bobby Krivitsky (@BobbyKrivitsky) May 6, 2026
“My general feeling watching us play in each of the last two playoffs…was we had a hard time generating really good looks on that first shot,” Stevens said. “So we gotta figure out a way to be better at that. I think that one of the things we’ve gotta figure out is how to have more of an impact at the rim, and I think we do need to add to our team to do that.”
Stevens also credited Philadelphia’s perimeter defense and Joel Embiid for making life difficult for Boston on offense.
The Celtics lacked size this year after losing Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kornet over the offseason. They tried to add some at the trade deadline by trading Anfernee Simons for Nikola Vucevic, but it didn’t pan out.
The Sixers exposed Boston’s lack of size, especially once Embiid came back and Jayson Tatum got hurt.
Stevens is right that the Celtics need to add size this offseason, so it will be interesting to see how he addresses their frontcourt.
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