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The Boston Celtics are officially heading home after losing Game 6 against the New York Knicks in a stunning 119-81 rout at Madison Square Garden on Friday night. The Celtics' title defense came up short before even reaching the conference finals, a fate that each of the last six champions have all succumbed to now.
Many things went wrong for the Celtics in this series, which is how you get such. big upset like this one. The biggest cloud hanging over the series is the injury to Jayson Tatum at the end of Game 4 that will likely keep him out for all of next season as well as this series. The Celtics were minutes away from going down 3-1 in the series even before the Tatum injury, but that eliminated any chance they had of coming back.
Kristaps Porzingis has also been a mess for most of this series while battling a severe illness that goes back multiple months. It limited him to just 12 minutes in Game 5 and just 11 minutes in Game 6. After the loss, Porzingis shed some more light on what he is dealing with via Jay King of The Athletic.
“Kristaps Porzingis said nobody is really clear on what he’s going through right now. They tested his heart as well as for other illnesses,” King reported on X, formerly Twitter. “Asked if he has long term concerns, he said he’s not sure but doesn’t think so. He believes rest might be best for him.”
When Porzingis was on the court, he was not his usual self and was clearly hampered by whatever he was dealing with. He didn't have his usual scoring punch and couldn't get a jumper to fall from just about anywhere on the court, leading Joe Mazzulla to go in other directions in the front court.
The Celtics were also hurt by their late-game offense in this series. They lost both Games 1 and 2 after having big leads in the second half, which is a big reason why they are going home now even after the injuries that affected them. All of these things will give Boston a lot to chew on heading into the offseason.
