5/4/26 - Monday Full Show - Celtics post mortem | Brian Scalabrine | And we're onto the Sox

The WEEI Afternoons team delivers a blistering post-mortem on the Boston Celtics' historic playoff collapse, losing Game 7 to the Philadelphia 76ers after leading 3-1—a rare feat in NBA history and the first time a #2 seed has blown such a lead. Hosts Rich Schurdenleib, Ken Laird, and Ted Johnson lead a scathing critique of head coach Joe Mazzulla’s decision to start an untested bench trio of Luka Garza, Ron Harper Jr., and Baylor Shireman in Game 7, calling it a fireable offense and emblematic of a larger identity crisis. They condemn the team’s rigid adherence to a three-point-heavy system even when it failed, particularly the disastrous 1-for-12 shooting from deep in the final minutes. Jason Tatum’s absence due to knee stiffness and his post-game camaraderie with Joel Embiid are labeled disrespectful to fans, while Jalen Brown’s Twitch stream criticizing flopping is seen as tone-deaf and self-serving. Ex-Celtics like Brian Scalabrine and Kendrick Perkins join the conversation, with Perkins unleashing a fiery social media rant accusing the team of arrogance, poor execution, and failing to protect home court. The hosts frame the backlash as a necessary wake-up call for a franchise that has grown complacent, calling for a wholesale cultural and structural overhaul—including potential coaching changes, roster overhauls, and a shift from analytics-driven 'boring' basketball to a more aggressive, physically imposing identity. The sentiment is overwhelmingly negative toward the Celtics' current state, though Perkins’ unfiltered honesty is praised as a positive catalyst for change.