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Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey delivered a direct and self-critical assessment after a 128–96 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the first-round series on Sunday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Maxey finished with 22 points, but he revealed a major issue in his first-half usage that shaped the game’s flow.
“I just that can’t happen. That’s on me. That absolutely can’t happen,” Maxey said. “That’s just unacceptable by me.”
He attempted only three shots in the first half, a stretch he called unacceptable for a team trying to avoid a 3–1 deficit.
“We can’t win basketball games with that happening,” he said. “And I take full responsibility on that one. That’s absolutely unacceptable.”
Boston’s defensive structure and Philadelphia’s offensive rhythm issues contributed to the limited early aggression. Maxey said the situation developed naturally but cannot repeat.
“I was playing within the flow of the game and it kind of just happened that way,” he said. “It wasn’t meant to happen that way, but that’s on me.”
The Celtics controlled the game physically, finishing with a 51–30 rebounding advantage and repeatedly pushing Philadelphia off its spots.
“They just kind of just moved us around, pushed us around offensively and defensively,” Maxey said. “Got to wherever spot they wanted to get to. No resistance and that’s unacceptable.”
Boston’s second-chance production and transition pace created separation early, forcing the 76ers into rotations that broke defensive structure.
“We thought we should overhelp,” Maxey said. “Then once you start overhelping, it’s just a team you can’t really overhelp on. You really have to guard your yard.”
The Celtics made 24 threes as a team, with Payton Pritchard scoring 32 points and Jayson Tatum adding 30 points and 11 assists. Maxey acknowledged the difference in execution compared to earlier games in the series.
“They didn’t just walk to their spots like that,” he said. “They kind of just walked to their spots and got whatever they wanted.”
He also stressed the urgency of correcting mistakes quickly with the series now at 3–1.
“We got to watch it. We got to let it go right now because it happened,” Maxey said. “We down 3–1 and we got a game on Tuesday. Our season’s on the line.”
Maxey emphasized that desperation must define Philadelphia’s approach in Game 5 in Boston.
“Our season’s on the line so we got to play desperate,” he said. “If that doesn’t make you desperate then why weren’t you desperate? We should have been.”
He also addressed the offensive adjustment with Joel Embiid returning to the lineup, noting the rhythm was not planned but situational.
“It was kind of just the flow of the game,” Maxey said. “Even Joel was just telling me like dude you got to force your way into the game.”
Veteran leadership echoed the same message internally, according to Maxey, reinforcing urgency heading into elimination pressure.
“Same thing I just said,” he said. “You got to be extremely desperate one game at a time.”
Game 5 shifts to Boston on Tuesday, where the 76ers face elimination against a Celtics team that has controlled the series physically and statistically.
