Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett Explain How Celtics Botched Game 7 Vs. 76ers originally appeared on NESN.
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A lot went wrong for the Boston Celtics over their final three games against the Philadelphia 76ers, from cold shooting and Jayson Tatum’s untimely injury to questionable coaching from Joe Mazzulla. It all came to a head during Game 7 last Saturday, which the Celtics lost at home.
Boston legends Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett think the finale was lost before it even started, however, due to the Celtics’ poor handling of Tatum’s injury situation.
After exiting Game 6 on Thursday, all indications on Friday were that Tatum was going to play in Game 7. He said so, Mazzulla said so, and the team’s injury report said so.
That all changed in the hours leading up to Saturday’s contest, however, as Tatum’s status was updated to questionable and he was stunningly ruled out shortly before the game.
Pierce and Garnett think if that was the plan all along to protect Tatum’s long-term health, the team shouldn’t have played mind games with its players and given them more time to prepare for Tatum’s absence.
“You about to go scrap and one of your best scrappers ain’t here.”
Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce break down what went wrong for the Celtics in their first-round exit.
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“They made a long-term decision,” Pierce said on Thursday’s episode of “Ticket & The Truth.” “What could happen.”
Garnett did not approve of Tatum being ruled out at the last minute.
“You about to go scrap, and one of your best scrappers ain’t here. That’s a blow to the morale in here. That’s a blow to the camaraderie,” Garnett said. “You need all hands on deck.”
“Just psychologically…it is devastating,” Pierce agreed.
Garnett and Pierce played in their fair share of Game 7s, so they know the pressure of mentally preparing for one. With the shocking Tatum decision, Boston didn’t give its players the chance to do that properly, and it may have cost them the game.
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