There was plenty of blame to spread around for the Celtics, but the biggest factors were poor 3-point shooting in Games 1 and 2 (Tatum), sloppy ball-handing that led to turnovers (Brown), poor end-of-game strategy (Mazzulla) and an inability to contain Brunson at key moments (Holiday).

What went wrong for the Boston Celtics vs. the New York Knicks in the 2025 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals? The Celtics fell in six games to the Knicks after a litany of injuries to Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown,

The New York Knicks pulled off a stunning upset when they dethroned the Boston Celtics as NBA champions by defeating them 4-2 in their best-of-seven second-round playoff series. New York sealed Boston's fate by winning the first two games on the road at the TD Garden and then clinched the series win with a fourth win at the Maddison Square Garden.