The Boston Celtics upset their fans when they crashed out of the 2025 NBA Playoffs in their Eastern Conference semifinals series against the New York Knicks. That group included one of their franchise legends, Bob Cousy.

Even at 97 years old, Cousy still keeps close tabs on the Celtics, especially when the playoffs roll around. He was thrilled when they won the 2024 NBA Finals over the Dallas Mavericks, and he believed that a repeat was in the cards last season.

But then all of a sudden, everything came crashing down for Boston. They lost Games 1 and 2 on their home court to fall into a 2-0 series deficit against the Knicks and had a potential rally in the series thwarted when Jayson Tatum ruptured his Achilles tendon in Game 4. Sure enough, the C’s eventually got eliminated in six games.

Even before Tatum’s injury, Boston’s collapse against New York has fans perplexed. Cousy is still upset that the Celtics fell apart in the playoffs, especially since the defeat ended up coming at the hands of the Knicks.

“You have to be there to have a sense of what’s going on, and I’m not,” Cousy said when discussing the Celtics’ defeat vs. the Knicks. “I get the impression that [coach Joe] Mazzulla did a good job and had their attention.”

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“But in the playoffs, in my experience, the best team wins. There are upsets occasionally, but I have no understanding of how the Celtics could collapse, especially against the [expletive] Knicks. As the Knicks proved in the next round, they were not a legitimate contender.”

New York would end up getting eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, which only made the sting of this defeat hurt a little bit more. Add in Tatum’s injury, and it was truly a nightmare scenario for the Celtics.

Now, the franchise has been forced to pivot, meaning that they aren’t expected to be a contender in the 2025-26 campaign. Cousy will still be watching the team, but he hasn’t moved on from the missed opportunity to repeat as champions last season.

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