The Boston Celtics entered the Eastern Conference semifinals cruising down the easiest road back to the NBA Finals they may ever see, and for some reason they seem intent on taking the path of most resistance.
They opened Game 4 with a 2-1 lead and all the urgency of a hungover sloth. The Celtics found enough energy to erase a 16-point, third-quarter deficit and force overtime against a Philadelphia 76ers team trying equally hard to give them the series, but Boston stalled its final possession so much that Marcus Smart's potential game-winning 3-pointer failed to beat the game clock by a fraction of a second in a 116-115 loss.