The Boston Celtics‘ historic collapse in Game 7 is just as much on the shoulders of head coach Joe Mazzulla as it is the players, perhaps even more so with the coaching decisions he made for the most important game of the season.

Mazzulla curated a starting lineup that had never started a game together as a unit, for what only seemed as his way of flexing his team against the Philadelphia 76ers. In doing so, Mazzulla issued Derrick White and Jaylen Brown with Luka Garza, Ron Harper Jr., and Baylor Scheierman.

It was the first career playoff starts for the trio of Garza, Harper, and Scheierman. They combined for 0-for-7 shooting from the field and a plus-minus of -31. It’s worth noting that both Garza and Harper Jr. played less than 10 minutes after starting the game.

Furthermore, it was even more surprising to see Neemias Queta, Payton Pritchard, and Sam Hauser have to come off the bench play over 30-minutes. They combined for 41-points and were a largely responsible for Boston keeping it a relatively close game.

That said, the only five players to score for the Celtics was: Brown, White, Queta, Pritchard, and Hauser.

After the game, Mazzulla said that it was Joel Embiid’s emergence in the series was the biggest difference for them down the stretch in the first round.

“What changed in the series was Joel Embiid came back and they’re a completely different team. That’s what changed in the series, and as far as the regular season and playoffs, nothing changed.”

The Celtics didn’t prepare for Embiid because they weren’t expecting him to be available to play after undergoing an appendectomy just less than a month ago. Pritchard admitted this prior to Game 3.

“I don’t think we talked about it at all. So, if he plays, he plays. We’ll figure that out. But it’s not like we’re sitting here worried if he’s playing or not. We haven’t even game-planned for him yet. So, we’re focused on who we’re playing.”

Embiid returned the court for Game 4 and went on to play in over 34-minutes in all four games, totaling 112 points, 36 rebounds, and 28 assists. He caused problems for the Celtics on both ends of the court and impacted their big men, which it cost them down the stretch.

For Mazzulla, who is always prepared and has his team in the best position to win, showed that he was outcoached as the 76ers became just the 14th team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 series deficit.

Photo Credit: David Butler II, Getty Images