On May 2, 2026, the Celtics loss to the 76ers in Game 7 stands as one of the worst series losses in franchise history. The Celtics came into this series as the higher seed and the favored team. Rarely ever have they lost in the first round as the higher seed. This marks the 6th time this has ever happened and the first since 1993. The Celtics, one of the most exciting teams this season, entered as the 2nd seed. They were never once expected to lose in this series, making it a rare and tremendous loss.

Was Joel Embiid the key to the 76ers success? The 76ers entered the first 3 games of the series without Embiid and were later down three games to one, yet they still came back and toppled the mighty Celtics. Before 2026, Boston was 32-0 in the playoffs when up three; now they are 32-1. Joel Embiid may have just been the key to the 76ers win. Hingham High student and Celtics fan Forrest Houle stated his frustration saying, “He [Embiid] dominated us. There is no way we would have lost if he didn’t end up playing.”

On top of that, the Celtics made plenty of critical mistakes. A lot went wrong in the final three games. There were a lot of bad plays, poor shots, coaching mistakes, and a heartbreaking injury from Jayson Tatum. Callum Owen, another HHS student mentioned that “I knew the game was over before it began. We needed Tatum and his injury ended our season.” 

Tatum was scheduled to play after exiting game six. Coach Mazzulla, Tatum himself, and the injury report all said so. But just hours before the 7th game of the series began Tatum was ruled out. Former Celtics players Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce both said that the team shouldn’t have played mind games with their players and given them more time to adjust to Tatum’s absence.

Players and fans alike were not happy with the loss. Fingers were pointed and Boston was in shambles. To put salt in the wound, Jaylen Brown was just recently fined 50,000 dollars by the NBA after criticizing the Game Seven officials on his livestream. The team is hurt and fans expect the best. This loss exposed critical weaknesses of the team and raised many questions about the coaching staff and veteran players. With star players Tatum and Brown still under 30, many questions are arising on how the team can prevent another catastrophe like this in seasons to come.