Jaylen Brown took ownership for his defensive error immediately after the Boston Celtics were handed a tough-to-swallow Game 4 defeat against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday afternoon.
“Just a bad read. That’s it,” Brown told reporters after Boston’s 116-115 overtime loss. “It’s a gamble at the wrong time and big shot by James Harden. That’s my fault. I took full accountability. Just a bad read.”
With the Celtics leading the Sixers by two points and the clock winding down, Brown opted to leave Harden wide open in the corner and pursued a double-team on 76ers big man Joel Embiid in the paint. Embiid kicked it out to Harden in the near corner when Brown came to double with Jayson Tatum. Harden, who had 39 points at the time, then connected on what proved to be a game-winning 3-pointer after Brown’s costly decision, the shot finding the bottom of the net with 18.2 seconds left and giving the hosts a one-point edge.
Tatum admitted the Celtics talked about how they did not want to give up a 3-pointer on that possession, again, given their two-point advantage, but he and other teammates weren’t critical of Brown.
“We wanted to not give up any threes and not foul, and if they scored a two, we would be fine,” Tatum told reporters, per CLNS Media. “But, you know, things like that happen in the course of the game.”
Al Horford added: “Just a tough, defensive breakdown for us. That just happens to be the last offensive play for them, so I feel like it gets a little magnified. But it’s something that happens with the game.”
Marcus Smart acknowledged how the Celtics trust Brown and others to make difficult decisions in those times, and noted how Embiid’s pass from the paint was a heads-up play for the hosts.
“It is complicated. They do a good job of putting guys in certain situations and it is a read,” Smart told reporters, per CLNS. “JB made a read. They made a better read and that’s all it is. I’m always living with JB making a read where he feels comfortable. He’s been doing great all series. This time, they made a better read and we paid for it.”
It marked one of two costly decisions in the final minute for the Celtics, as their ensuing offensive possession didn’t go any better. Boston didn’t even get a shot off despite the final possession starting with 18 ticks left on the clock.
Now, the Celtics will return to TD Garden with a pivotal Game 5 scheduled for Tuesday night.
