76ers lose Game 5 of playoff series to Boston Celtics, 101-85

BOSTON - It wasn't youth that played the biggest role in the 76ers' not putting the hammer down on the Boston Celtics and coming back to Philly with a 3-2 series lead. And it wasn't the wise, old vets in the green and white just tapping into their playoff experience, either. What did the Sixers in, what allowed Boston to take a 101-85 victory and a 3-2 lead out of TD Garden on Monday night, was simply bad and, at times, stupid basketball by the visitors.

The youth excuse can be thrown out there, but when passes are thrown with minimum velocity and with all the precision of a North Korean test missile and a player such as Brandon Bass torches you for 18 points in the most important quarter of the season, while you're turning the ball over six times, that's just bad, bad basketball. And after 11 playoff games this year, on top of the five last year, youth really can't be a crutch anymore.

"All in all, I just think we had a bad third," said Lou Williams, limited to nine points. "We had a bunch of turnovers and they scored on all of them, especially when we're in their building with an experienced team like that. We didn't help ourselves in the third. A lot of that was transition basketball. They were running off of turnovers and guys were scrambling, trying to get matched up, and Bass was a recipient of a lot of those plays, statement plays that gets the crowd involved with two dunks in a row. We just never could recover."

After the Sixers took a 50-47 lead at the break, Bass outscored them by two points in the third when the Celtics took command and the Sixers folded more times than a map. They'll get a chance to redeem themselves and even the series on Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center in Game 6, which will begin at 8 p.m. Game 7, if necessary, will be Saturday in Boston.

During that 28-16 burst, the Sixers' defense left much to be desired. In the second part of the third quarter, the Celtics got four dunks just from the Sixers not rotating properly. And Bass looked Larry Bird-like, making all but one of his seven shots, making all of his six free throws and perhaps pretty much wrapping up the series.

The momentum appeared to roll toward the Celtics in the middle of that decisive third when, with the Sixers up by four, Andre Iguodala headed to the foul line for two shots after a clear-path foul by Paul Pierce. Iguodala missed both, the Sixers turned the ball over on their ensuing possession and Boston went on a quick, methodical 10-0 run. After a timeout, the Sixers scored five straight to get within one at 63-62, only to get outscored by 12-4 to finish out what might be the deciding 12 minutes of this series.

"You can't play careless against this team," coach Doug Collins said. "They're too good, they're quick, they're physical, and we did not do a good job with that. We did not meet the tenacity they played with from the middle of the third quarter on."

Except for that short, five-point spurt.

"I thought we were back in it, thought we weathered the storm," Collins said. "But then we didn't get any shots at the basket. You can't give them 11 steals. We only had seven fastbreak points. When they get to the line and they shoot a high percentage, it limits how often you are going to get in the open court. They played that last 18 minutes much, much better than we did."

And much smarter. The Celtics thought the Sixers were back on their heels offensively and they pushed out at them even harder. Instead of spreading the floor and looking to create seams and beat Boston's overplays with backdoor cuts, the Sixers continuously dribbled themselves into trouble or threw those lackadaisical passes that often ended up as baskets at the other end.

Elton Brand, so limited this series because of a sore neck and shoulder, scored 12 of his team-high 19 points in the first half, when the Sixers led by three due to making 54.8 percent (23-for-42) of their shots. But as Collins likes to say, it was sort of fool's gold as the three-point lead didn't seem nearly enough considering how well the Sixers had performed.

The third quarter appeared to prove that.

"It started off, and you hear time and time again about our turnovers," said center Spencer Hawes, held scoreless in the first half before finishing with 10 points. "That kind of got those guys rolling. And then you get some easy ones out in transition and it makes everything in the halfcourt easier, makes the rim look that much bigger. Then they ramped up the defensive intensity to make it even easier for themselves in the halfcourt. Our mistakes put them into position to make that run. At the end of the day, they handled their homecourt and it's time for us to handle ours."

For that to happen, the Sixers can't afford four turnovers each from Thaddeus Young and Jrue Holiday. They'll also have to figure how to get more production from Hawes in the early part of the game and they'll certainly need to find a way to play smarter and harder and know how important the stakes are. They aren't kids anymore, after all.

"They kind of sped us up a little bit and they got us out of character," said Young, who totaled six points and four rebounds. "They got in transition and they started making big baskets and we never recovered."

Kevin Garnett added 20 for the Celtics, while Paul Pierce had 16 and Rajon Rondo collected 13 points and 14 assists . . . Boston shot 33 free throws, with 26 makes, compared to 10-for-16 for the Sixers . . .Evan Turner posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds and Lavoy Allen hit all six of his shots for 12 points. He didn't have his best night at the defensive end, however.