Payton Pritchard Has Stern Message For Celtics After Game 5 Implosion Vs. 76ers originally appeared on NESN.
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Game 5 was there for the taking for the Boston Celtics. They had a double-digit lead at home in the second half, and Joel Embiid even left the game for a few minutes with a minor injury.
However, the Celtics failed to take it. They let the Philadelphia 76ers hang around and eventually get hot. Meanwhile, Boston went ice-cold, missing its final 16 field-goal attempts of the game and losing by 16.
It was an ugly collapse for the Celtics in a potential close-out game. Now they must head back to Philadelphia for Game 6 on Thursday.
Payton Pritchard, who scored 12 points for Boston on 5-of-10 shooting, was not happy with the team’s poor performance during the second half.
Payton Pritchard with some strong words after the C’s loss: “We were a little lackadaisical at times when we could’ve put them away, and we just messed around with the game.”
“I thought we let them have life at times that they didn’t need to.” @CLNSMedia | Q: @RealBobManningpic.twitter.com/pmYfH4gul4
— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) April 29, 2026
“We were a little lackadaisical at times when we could’ve put them away, and we just messed around with the game,” Pritchard told CLNS reporter Bobby Manning after the game. “I thought we let them have life at times that they didn’t need to.”
That’s been a recurring problem for the Celtics in recent years, not putting teams away and blowing big leads. They tend to stagnate on offense and settle for bad shots, which happened again on Tuesday.
To Pritchard’s point, the Sixers have life now. They’re still alive and get to host Game 6 now. If they win that, anything can happen in Game 7, so Boston needs to avoid making the same mistake on Thursday and go for the kill.
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