The Boston Celtics have had trouble closing out games all season, and their late-game struggles came back to bite them in Game 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers.

With 2023 MVP Joel Embiid out for the Eastern Conference Semifinals opener, the C's had a great opportunity to take a series lead. Instead, they squandered a four-point advantage with less than two minutes to go in the fourth quarter and ended up falling 119-115.

Ahead of Wednesday's Game 2, Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon admitted the Celtics do have a tendency to ease up when they're ahead. This comes after Al Horford admitted Boston didn't come out with the necessary defensive intensity because of Embiid's absence.

“I think we do let our foot off the gas at times,” Brogdon said, per The Athletic's Jared Weiss.  “I think we get comfortable. I think we’re such a good team sometimes that we get big leads, we get comfortable, and we let teams back in the game.”

Despite a solid showing off the bench, Brogdon committed a terrible turnover with 32 seconds left in Game 1 that ultimately doomed Boston:

This wasn't the Celtics' first blown lead in the 2023 playoffs either, as they also choked away Game 5 versus the Atlanta Hawks. Although the C's closed out the Hawks in six games, winning in five would've given Embiid less time to recover from his knee sprain. For now, most signs are pointing to Embiid returning for Game 2.

In order to bounce back, Brogdon and company will have to limit their turnovers and tire Embiid out while he's not at full strength. It has been difficult to have trust in the Celtics as of late, yet Brogdon assured that they'll figure it out.

“We have to tighten up,” he said. “And I think we will.”

The Celtics will have a chance to prove that they learned their lesson Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET for Game 2 against the Sixers.