Jaylen Brown calls for more 'organized' C's offense after ugly Game 5 originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

BOSTON -- Offense has been the Celtics' calling card throughout the 2022-23 campaign. They ranked fourth in the NBA in scoring during the regular season and boast the second-best scoring offense in these playoffs.

But Boston's high-octane attack is stalling when the team needs it most.

The Celtics fell 115-103 to the Philadelphia 76ers as home favorites in Tuesday's Game 5, only hitting the century mark thanks to Payton Pritchard's eight points in garbage time. They had 72 points through three quarters and were shooting 37.7 percent as a team (including 27.6 percent from 3) before a late run by the reserves.

Scal, Eddie House react to Game 5 loss: 'Zero resistance' from C's

After the game, Jaylen Brown suggested Boston's offensive game plan was lacking in both execution and creativity.

"Definitely get more organized. Maintain our spacing. I feel like we got the same looks over and over again," Brown said. "We got a lot of open looks, and we didn't make shots tonight, but I think that we can be better, and I think that we will be better."

To Brown's point, the Celtics missed several wide-open 3-pointers that weren't necessarily bad shots. Al Horford was 0 for 7 from distance after hitting five 3-pointers in a Game 3 win, while Jayson Tatum went 3 for 11 from beyond the arc.

But Boston's offensive struggles went beyond missing open looks.

The Celtics allowed the Sixers to slow the pace of the game from the jump, which played to Philly's favor. Boston notched just five fast break points with virtually no transition game, and its half-court offense was relatively predictable, with Brown and Tatum -- who combined for 60 of the team's 103 points -- trying to force the issue offensively.

"I thought we missed some shots. That put pressure on us," Brown said. "I thought that we came out a little bit flat, if anything. The energy was a little deflated -- a bunch of foul calls that didn't go in our direction kind of took our rhythm out of the game, slowed the game down for them.

"Fouling let them catch their breath, and obviously we want to play faster. The game just swung in their favor, and we've got to be better."

The Celtics' season will depend on them being better offensively in Thursday's win-or-go-home Game 6. While Brown and his teammates can do their part to crank up the pace, head coach Joe Mazzulla also needs to get more creative with Boston's offensive sets to avoid the ball sticking in the half-court.

The Celtics also have plenty to clean up defensively, but if they want to come back to Boston for Game 7, they'll need to shift back into overdrive Thursday night.