The Boston Celtics were eliminated from the playoffs in the second round against the New York Knicks. Despite entering the postseason series with New York as heavy favorites, Boston couldn't overcome mistakes throughout, leading to the eventual elimination.
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With the loss, the Celtics continued a long NBA playoff streak. For the seventh year in a row, the league will not have a repeat champion.
This also marks another year that the defending champions will not have gotten out of the second round. The last time that it happened with in 2019.
After the loss, the Celtics locker room was filled with a feeling of emptiness. The entire group felt as if they could keep the season alive, but New York came out with much more effort in Game 6.
"We don't want our season to end," said Payton Pritchard. "I think it's nothing worse than having to go home, and sit at home, and not play basketball right now. So we're gonna do everything we can to keep that alive."
Even before Boston lost star Jayson Tatum to a torn Achilles, the Knicks looked like the better team. New York was able to take advantage of the mistakes that Boston made in the series, and they eventually did enough to put the Celtics away for good.
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Many expect big changes to be coming to the Celtics this offseason due to CBA restrictions. Star Jaylen Brown didn't want to discuss this after the game and said that the team would reflect on next steps down the line.
"Nothing to talk about right now," Brown said. "But we'll kind of sit back and process and see what the next steps are."
Boston felt that they were good enough to repeat as NBA champions, but they fell short of that goal. This offseason will be crucial in terms of the trajectory of the franchise, and it seems that no players are safe from being moved in the NBA anymore.
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This story was originally published May 17, 2025 at 9:37 AM.