Simone: Celtics' offensive failures have to take center stage after Game 5

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics’ late-night messaging after Game 5 was clear: An inability to get stops cratered their late-game offense.

“Getting a stop, first of all. That'd help,” said Jayson Tatum.

“There was a stretch where we weren't making shots, and they were coming down, and hitting shots, and getting fouled, and you just kept having to play against a set defense,” he added.

“We weren't getting stops, and then [we were] taking it out of the basket,” said Joe Mazzulla.

The Philadelphia 76ers rained down buckets in the second half. Joel Embiid relentlessly backed down Nikola Vucevic. Quentin Grimes slithered into space for open threes. Tyrese Maxey found a rhythm.

Meanwhile, the Celtics ran in molasses. They took their time getting the ball out of the basket before trudging up the court to play against a revitalized Sixers lineup ready to attack.

“You can't let it slow you down,” Payton Pritchard said. “You gotta get it out fast, and you gotta make it a priority to get out the net and run.”

Boston didn’t do that. There was no taking the ball out of the net quickly. There was no running. There was no urgency.

What unfolded was a lifeless string of half-court possessions that yielded a measly 11 fourth-quarter points for a Celtics team that had generated 128 total points just two nights earlier.

Embiid’s second-half dominance was partially a product of the Celtics’ lack of pace. They failed to play fast, allowing the sluggish superstar to settle into his preferred source of offense. Vucevic paid the price.

“Didn't make shots, and the pace slowed down, and then you let Embiid do what he did,” Pritchard said. “When the pace slows down, he's hard to cover one-on-one, and we played right into his type of game. So, yeah, we just gotta make shots.”

So, Embiid was the problem? Or maybe the lack of post-76ers-bucket urgency? Or the Sixers’ threes?

“They got hot from three,” Mazzulla said. “We left Grimes a couple times. Paul George hit one. Maxey hit another one there. [VJ] Edgecombe hit one. So, they got hot from three there. Which is, they're a dangerous team when they do that. But either way, we just have to just work to get stops and execute on the other end.”

Or maybe the Celtics’ own 3-point failures?

Since the 2022-23 season, the Celtics are 27-5 when they shoot 35 percent or better from