The Boston Celtics find themselves in a win or go home situation in their Eastern Conference semifinals matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers after falling flat in Game 5 on Tuesday night.
One play that stands out in the pummeling was when Sixers superstar Joel Embiid hustled back to prevent Celtics guard Jaylen Brown from hitting a wide-open layup.
The block seemed eerily familiar, but not in recent play. You would have to go back through the NBA archives to the 2004 Eastern Conference semifinals between the New Jersey Nets and Detroit Pistons.
Setting the scene, New Jersey had an 87-85 lead with only 11.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter of Game 5. Jason Kidd was at the free-throw line, but the 10-time NBA All-Star missed both. Detroit’s Clifford Robinson gobbled up the rebound and made the outlet pass to Chauncey Billups.
This is where the play becomes eerily familiar — out of nowhere, Richard Jefferson hustled up the court and prevented Billups from tying the game.
The Pistons were still able to tie the game, but ultimately fell to the Nets in triple overtime with New Jersey taking the 3-2 series lead. Sound familiar?
The Pistons regrouped for the final two games of the series, clinching Game 7 at home to move on to the Eastern Conference finals, where they defeated the Indiana Pacers, 4-2, before capturing the franchise’s third NBA title by making easy work of the Los Angels Lakers in the NBA Finals.
The C’s can look at what Detroit did in 2004 and see that they are not that different from the Pistons. When Boston plays its game, it may not be able to completely shut down Embiid, but who can? But the Celtics can certainly stop James Harden from being a factor; see Games 2 and 3.
The Celtics expect Game 6 to be a dogfight but still have confidence in themselves to get the job done. And they should. They have history on their side, even as recent as last postseason when the Milwaukee Bucks took Game 5 and Boston needed to win Game 6 on the road.
Tipoff for Thursday night’s Game 6 from Wells Fargo Center is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. If the C’s win, they will host Philly at TD Garden on Sunday, which could make for an interesting Mother’s Day.
