NBA Playoffs: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics, Game Five

PHILADELPHIA has been booted from the NBA playoffs as Ben Simmons threw it away when his team’s season was on the line.

BOSTON, MA - MAY 3: Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers dribbles against the Boston Celtics during the second quarter of Game Two of the Eastern Conference Second Round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden on May 3, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

• Aron Baynes sets new playoffs personal best
• ‘F***ing monster’ Simmons turns it on
• Sixers choke in last-gasp blunder

Live: Sixers vs. Celtics

The Philadelphia 76ers have been eliminated by the Boston Celtics.

BEN Simmons’ 76ers have been punted from the NBA playoffs after a heartbreaking last-gasp loss in Boston on Thursday.

Philadelphia led in the final two-minutes, but again choked in crunch time as the Celtics delivered clutch plays when they mattered to win 114-112.

The win completed Boston’s 4-1 series domination of the Sixers. They will now play LeBron James’ Cleveland in the Eastern Conference finals.

1.15pm

Simmons slayed for winning-time mistakes

BEN Simmons failure to deliver big plays when his team was screaming out for them has seen critics come for the rookie of the year-favourite yet again.

Simmons has endured a nightmare series against Boston where he was accused of running scared in game three — and scored just one bucket in game two.

The Aussie star had a much better, well-rounded performance in Gam 5, where he finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

He also helped Philly to edge in front early in the fourth quarter with six fourth-quarter points — however he did not score in the final five-minutes of the contest.

He also threw the ball away when given the tough assignment of finding an open Sixers player when they needed a miracle final play with 2.4 seconds remaining.

His pass was picked off — and Philly were instantly knocked out of the playoffs.

ESPN basketball analyst Stephen A. Smith said Simmons was made to look like the rookie player he is this series.

“In the end, when you needed a seasoned point-guard to really handle the rounds and keep everything under control, they had to rely on a first-year player in Ben Simmons and that certainly wasn’t going to be enough against this Boston Celtics team,” he said.

According to ESPN Stats, Simmons was the worst player to step on court in the entire series.

Along with the team being -63 with Simmons on the floor, they were +48 when the star guard was on the bench.

Ben Simmons had the worst +/- of any player in the Celtics/Sixers series. pic.twitter.com/LcTI5ppyNq

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 10, 2018

Sixers were outscored by -63 points with Ben Simmons on court over the five games against #Celtics.

— Ben Maller (@benmaller) May 10, 2018

Ben Simmons' season has come to an end, and these conference semis were poor for him, by his standards. Had 18, 8, and 6 as his 76ers bow out of the playoffs. Averaged 14.4 ppg, 8.2 rpg, and 6.4 apg, over this series.

— Olgun Uluc (@OlgunUluc) May 10, 2018

12.55pm

Boston prevail in playoffs epic

Ben Simmons’ Philadelphia has been knocked out of the NBA Playoffs in heartbreaking circumstances as Boston progressed to the Eastern Conference finals.

The 76ers took the lead in the final two-minutes, but fell 114-112.

Trailing 3-1 in their series, Philly needed a miracle play with 2.4 seconds to play, but Simmons’ long toss from the baseline deep into his team’s half of the court got picked off by Marcus Smart as Boston held off for a memorable 4-1 series win.

It was all set-up for a grandstand finish.

Jayson Tatum snuck behind the back of TJ McConnell with 35 seconds left to put Boston in front 111-109 before Philadelphia used its final time out to set-up a game-deciding play.

The Sixers gave the ball to Joel Embiid one-on-one in the post against Aussie Aron Byanes with their season on the line.

The Cameroon superstar missed a tough put-up before grabbing his own rebound and kicking the ball out-of-bounds when the Celtics swarmed him in the paint.

Philly then fouled Terry Rozier with 10 seconds to go, sending him to the line where he dropped both free-throws to give Boston a four-point buffer with eight seconds to play.

Shooter JJ Redick then dropped a three-point miracle from well behind the arc with 3.8 seconds left, cutting Boston’s margin to 113-112.

Boston then nailed just one of their free-throws to give Philly one last desperate play, trailing by two with 2.4 seconds left.

It all went wrong when Simmons’ long toss got knocked away — it never looked like hitting a Philly target.

The Sixers had used all their time-outs and Simmons could only pick up the ball and make it up as he went along with his disastrous final in-bounds pass.

Simmons' Hail Mary pass misses its mark and the #Sixers are heading home! #Celtics pic.twitter.com/jyRxe0IPws

— NedsAU (@NedsAus) May 10, 2018

ben simmons, brett brown, whoever was responsible for that last play, was disgusting

— Drew Corrigan (@Dcorrigan50) May 10, 2018

just an absolutely awful and embarrassing pass by ben simmons, what the hell are you doing dude? jesus christ

— Drew Corrigan (@Dcorrigan50) May 10, 2018

Ben Simmons is a terrible passer in the clutch

— Pinder (@JPinder) May 10, 2018

12.45pm

Philly sets up grandstand finish with late charge

Philadelphia fought to take the lead at 94-92 before Boston shot back out to a six-point lead with four minutes to play.

A Dario Saric three-point bomb put Philly back in front 103-102 before Ben Simmons slammed down a dunk to extend the 76ers’ lead to three-points with two minutes to play.

Simmons dropped back-to-back buckets in the final minutes to take his personal tally to 18 points with one minute to play and Philadelphia ahead 109-107.

12.05pm

Baynes gets career-high as Celtics lead in the third quarter

Forgotten Aussie Aron Baynes enjoyed a new career-high as he took his points haul to 13 in the third quarter.

It is the highest individual haul Baynes has delivered in a playoffs game.

He also managed to draw Sixers star Joel Embiid into a technical foul after going to water when the Philly centre gave him a little nudge after a whistle.

New career playoff high 13 points for Aron Baynes. Second time he's cracked double digits and he's a rebound away from his first playoff double-double. Ironically, has 13 regular season double-doubles in his career per @bball_ref.

— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) May 10, 2018

Give Baynes an Oscar pic.twitter.com/dHAVbt2KTF

— Dime on UPROXX (@DimeUPROXX) May 10, 2018

11.41am

Wheels begin falling off for Philly

The 76ers began to seriously fall behind in urgency midway through the third quarter as the Boston Celtics closed in for the kill. An 11-point deficit piled on the pressure for the Sixers, who were beginning to slip up with a number of silly turnovers.

A particularly strange moment came in the third when Ben Simmons ran out of time on the shot clock and hurled the ball back down the court.

Simmons and counterpart Joel Embiid were scolded for their sloppiness and obvious inexperience playing in clutch finals matches.

Ben Simmons looks like a video game with a glitch. #Celtics #Sixers pic.twitter.com/oa0L5EkvNF

— David Wade (@davidwade) May 10, 2018

Embiid and Simmons look like two young players who have never been in this situation in a playoff series before. Effort and execution not great.

— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) May 10, 2018

Simmons be throwing up some b/s

Reminds me a bit of Randle with these wild shots aha

— Ry (@JustRyCole) May 10, 2018

11am

‘F***ing monster’: Simmons turns it on

BEN. SIMMONS. 😤 pic.twitter.com/5D846pjd9N

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 10, 2018

If you needed proof of how bad the 76ers want to be playing in Philadelphia this weekend, take a look at Ben Simmons in the first half.

The explosive Aussie rocketed back into the game in the second quarter after copping two fouls as the Sixers dropped the lead.

A crafty fake handoff late in the second frame, followed by a particularly violent dunk from the 21-year-old star sent chins wagging around the league.

You wanted killer instinct.

Ben Simmons is giving it to you.

— Matt Hammond (@MattHammondShow) May 10, 2018

Simmons has been a fucking monster tonight. Goodness.

— Cole Zwicker (@colezwicker) May 10, 2018

10.22am

Simmons off to an aggressive start, hit by shooting criticism

Simmons sneaking into the paint and dropping the hammer!#Sixers #PhilaUnite pic.twitter.com/VYovYI8euM

— NedsAU (@NedsAus) May 10, 2018

Ben Simmons sunk an early jumper for the 76ers in the first quarter to put the away team, battling to keep their season alive, four points ahead by the first time out.

He then landed a huge dunk inside the final five minutes to inch the Sixers ahead.

Despite his aggressive start in Game Five, the 21-year-old’s questionable shooting was taken to task by fans before the first quarter wrapped up.

In some ways, it’s an indictment that he’s played basketball for 15 years & shoots worse than some 8 year olds.

But it’s also a huge testament to his other skills that he shoots like a 7 year old & still made it to the NBA.

— Heath Cummings (@heathcummingssr) May 10, 2018

Simmons’ unwillingness to shoot is actually astonishing

— DJ Bean (@DJ_Bean) May 10, 2018

8.30am

Philly’s peculiar dinner guest

Can Ben and the boys pull off a magic trick of their own.

With history on Boston’s side ahead of Thursday’s Game Five, the Philadelphia 76ers decided to employ a lighthearted approach going into their must-win clash at TD Garden.

Coach Brett Brown organised a mentalist to perform at the Sixers’ dinner on Wednesday night (AEST). The “smooth” magician performed a host of tricks, mind-reading acts and even guessed players’ ex-girlfriends.

If the Sixers can emulate a touch of the magic on show, they may just be in for a historic comeback in this week’s finals series.

“He does some pretty incredible stuff,” T.J. McConnell said via ESPN. “It was just fun. Brett does a good job of that, not having a real businesslike dinner. It was more calm and funny.”

Brown said he was confident his boys could make it back home for Game Six.

“We have a game plan that we’re confident in, we have a rotation that we believe in and they have a spirit still to move this thing forward,” Brown said. “We want to go back to Philadelphia.”

8am

Hopeful Sixers aim for Sunday final

Can they keep it alive?

Australians Ben Simmons and Aron Baynes will engage in what could be an epic NBA playoff encounter when the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics clash in game five of their series.

Tip off is in Boston on Wednesday (Thursday 10am AEST).

If Simmons’ 76ers lose they will be eliminated from the playoffs and Baynes’ Celtics will move on to play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

If the 76ers win they will stay alive, reduce the Celtics’ lead in the best-of- seven series to 3-2, take momentum and set up a game six in front of a fanatical home crowd in Philadelphia on Friday.

A potential game seven decider is pencilled in for Sunday in Boston.

“We have a rotation we believe in and we have the spirit to move this thing forward and we want to go back to Philadelphia.” Baynes, the Celtics’ starting centre, has been a rock for his team, putting his body on the line battling the 76ers’ All-Star centre Joel Embiid while averaging seven points and six rebounds per game.

The Queenslander has also added a new weapon, three-point shooting. He has made six of 14 long bombs against the 76ers for an impressive 43 per cent success rate.

Brown pointed to the 76ers’ three-point shooting as an area the team needs to improve.

The Celtics have exposed Simmons’ poor shooting by standing off him and daring him to shoot while smothering the 76ers’ arsenal of three-point shooters JJ Redick, Dario Saric, Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova with defenders. The 76ers are connecting with just 34 per cent of their three-pointers. “We haven’t made shots and I think if we can click on a night when we are guarding like we have been guarding and then make some shots, that’s when we have a chance to be at our best,” Brown said.

“I would like to see more threes.

“That is the way the sport is being played now.”

— with AAP