The Boston Celtics entered their Eastern Conference semifinals series against the New York Knicks as -900 betting favorites. The defending champions were also the overwhelming favorites to represent the East in the 2025 NBA Finals.
Boston shockingly lost its first two home games to New York, falling to a 2-0 deficit in the seven-game series. Longtime Celtics fan and analyst Bill Simmons has cited “arrogance” as the biggest reason behind his team’s struggles in the playoffs.
“I can’t come up with reasons for this,” he said on the “Bill Simmons podcast” on May 8. “This team that was built as this offensive machine that wins 75 to 80 percent of its games just s******g the bed like this two games in a row.”
“There’s been an arrogance to this Celtics team that comes out at the worst possible times.”
@BillSimmons and his dad react to the Celtics dropping the first two games at home to the Knicks.
Celtics Fans Turning on Jayson Tatum?
Simmons’ father, William Simmons Jr, also a longtime Celtics fan, noted that scores of fans at the TD Garden were upset with Jayson Tatum‘s mediocre performances through the first two games.
“So many people walking down the stairs [were] saying, ‘Tatum didn’t show up,'” he said. “Yeah, he got rebounds, but he was never in the offense. He never took charge. Or, when he had the ball, all he wanted to do was dribble the ball on the perimeter.”
“Our defense in the last 8 minutes of the fourth quarter was terrible,” he added.
To William’s point, the Celtics did not score a field goal for nearly eight minutes of the fourth quarter of their Game 2 loss, allowing the Knicks to erase a huge deficit.
“I hate to use this word because in the wrong context it’s a little insulting,” added Simmons about the Celtics’ collapse. “But there has been an arrogance to this Celtics team that comes out at the worst possible times. It’s like, ‘This is who we are. We shoot threes. We don’t need a timeout.'”
Can Celtics Bounce Back in the Series?
Despite going down 2-0, the Celtics have more than a puncher’s chance to win four of the next five games to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
During the regular season, Boston finished a 33-8 away record, the third-greatest road record in NBA history, behind only the 2015-16 Warriors and 1971-72 Lakers.
Furthermore, the Celtics have surprisingly fared better in road games than home games during their 2022, 2023 and 2024 playoff runs. In the combined three playoff runs, the Celtics were 23-16 at home and 22-9 on the road, good enough to secure two trips to the NBA Finals in 2022 and 2024.
BOSTON CELTICS PLAYOFFS
(2022-2025)
23-16 at home
22-9 on the road
22 wins in 31 road playoff games matches the NBA record (Cleveland 2010-17, Golden State 2017-22).
Boston’s ability to thrive in hostile environments is precisely why the team is confident in its ability to flip the script against New York.
“What’s done is done,” Jaylen Brown said after the Game 2 loss, via Yahoo Sports.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re ready to come out for Game 3. I think we’re due for a lot of makes. I think we had a lot of great shots tonight that didn’t go in. We’ve just got to relax, take a deep breath and play Celtics basketball. Just like we’re down 0-2, we can tie this thing back up.”
The Celtics became the first team in NBA playoff history to blow back-to-back 20-point leads earlier in the series. They just need to hold onto the leads, which could be easier said than done. The Celtics will try to get on the win column in Game 3 on May 10 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The Boston Celtics are the first team in NBA playoff history to blow back-to-back 20-PT leads.
