It's impossible to know what will happen on Saturday night. An endless array of possibilities awaits the Boston Celtics in their Game 7 matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The last six quarters have been a disaster. Celtics basketball has been replaced by an unrecognizable product. Jaylen Brown has fallen apart. Joe Mazzulla has chosen rigidity over change. Boston's role players have failed to execute, and the big-man rotation has broken down.
But Game 7 is a new game. A new opportunity. A new horizon, if you enjoy a flair for the dramatic.
The 3-ball has been king for Boston. A magnet-ball game from beyond the arc could be all it takes to earn a Game 7 victory and advance to the second round. A Sam Hauser master class. A Derrick White revival. A Nikola Vucevic emergence.
Simultaneously, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown -- despite recency bias creeping in -- have proven year over year that they can step up in big moments. Brown's Finals MVP. Tatum's Game 6 against the Milwaukee Bucks in 2022, and his Game 7 against these very Sixers in 2023. Not to mention, countless regular-season performances.
A monster night from either Celtics star could theoretically be enough to get the Celtics over the hump.
Mazzulla could also make some major changes. A starting-lineup shift, inserting Payton Pritchard, Baylor Scheierman, or even Luka Garza. A significant rotation adjustment, emphasizing the bench unit that was Boston's only sign of life in Game 6.
If he really wanted to make a point, Mazzulla could roll out the exact group that led Boston's fourth-quarter comeback in Game 6: Pritchard, Scheierman, Ron Harper Jr., Jordan Walsh, and Garza. That won't happen. But it would certainly make Boston's intentions clear.
An infusion of bench minutes seems like it should be an inevitability based on Thursday night's events, but Mazzulla could also choose to stubbornly stick to his guns. Though, considering he threw out the bench so early in the fourth in Game 6, that seems unlikely.
At the same time, the Sixers could slam their fists on the table.
Tyrese Maxey could explode for 50 points. Joel Embiid could force his way into the paint from the very start of the game, crippling the Celtics' center rotation with foul trouble. Paul George could continue his career revival, much like he did in Game 6. VJ Edgecombe could deliver another Game 2-esque performance.
Instead of Hauser, White, and Vucevic, Kelly Oubre Jr., Quentin Grimes, and Andre Drummond could catch fire from deep range.
Philadelphia's defensive physicality could continue to disrupt the Celtics' offensive flow. Boston could repeat its Game 5 and 6 mistakes. The Sixers could cruise to victory and a date with the New York Knicks in Round 2.
But the same could happen to Boston.
Based on everything that has unfolded over the past 100 hours or so, the Celtics have transformed into an