Well, that escalated quickly.

The Boston Celtics’ season came crashing down in the most unceremonious kind of way imaginable. A 119-81 shellacking at the hands of the New York Knicks in Game 6 ended their title defense and launched Knicks fans into 1999-level euphoria. It also confirmed something Celtics fans weren’t ready to admit: the locker room just didn’t feel the same this time. And head coach Joe Mazzulla said it out loud.

“There wasn’t really much emotion there… That’s just the way it goes,” Mazzulla admitted postgame, when asked about the mood in the room. “You can’t have an expectation that the series is supposed to go a certain way… you move on as a team, and that’s it.”

Wait, that’s it? That sounds less like a post-playoff presser and more like someone canceling brunch plans. But to be fair, what do you say after getting dismantled by 38 points and watching your best player rupture his Achilles?

From the jump, the Celtics looked like they accidentally wandered into a live taping of “Knicks Greatest Hits: MSG Edition.” New York came out swinging, and Boston came out… swinging at air. The Knicks led 33-20 after the first, and then it got worse. Much worse.

Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby both poured in 23 points with the kind of ease usually reserved for MyCareer games on Rookie difficulty. Mikal Bridges had 22, Karl-Anthony Towns added 21, and Josh Hart was out there doing his best Oscar Robertson impression with a triple-double: 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. Eleven! That’s as many assists as Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and Payton Pritchard combined, and we’re not even joking.

Meanwhile, the Celtics’ offense was colder than the inside of TD Garden’s freezer. They shot 36% from the field and just 29.3% from three. Derrick White went 3-for-11. Jrue Holiday went 1-for-8. And Brown? He dropped 20, but also 7 turnovers and a sixth foul that was the basketball version of walking out of the club before the lights come on.

White summed it up perfectly: “Seemed like it went left pretty quick.” That might be the most polite way ever to describe a basketball team getting steamrolled like an unlucky raccoon on a highway.

Now, to be fair, this didn’t all go to drain in Game 6. That was just the final, flaming garbage truck in the Celtics’ late-season parade. They already blew massive leads in Games 1 and 2 — at home — and looked shaky even before Jayson Tatum went down in Game 4 with a ruptured Achilles.

Mazzulla addressed the elephant in the room: “Losing a player to that type of injury was tough… but that’s part of it.” It’s not just part of it — it was it. With Tatum gone, Boston’s offensive flow dried up. And the defense? Let’s just say the Knicks were ordering their shots like it was an open bar at a wedding.

Joe Mazzulla’s Farewell Message to the Celtics: Real Recognize Real

Despite the loss, Mazzulla kept it classy and heartfelt. His final words to the team hit fans right in the feels: “I told the guys in the locker room — one of the honors of my life would be being able to coach this group of guys… Every one of these guys is a champion, a warrior… We had a legit shot at it, and they gave everything they had.”

Cue the cinematic music. Sure, it’s not quite “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose,” but it was a fitting sendoff for a team that’s been through the playoff wringer since 2018. Five conference finals, two Finals appearances, and one glorious championship banner — this Celtics core has done things. Unfortunately, now they also have to do some soul searching.

Now comes the weird part: the future. Tatum will miss next season. The Celtics were already facing some cap gymnastics, and now there are legit conversations about retooling, maybe even a mini-rebuild.

Jrue Holiday might be gone. Horford isn’t getting any younger. And while Jaylen Brown is locked in, his Game 6 stat line (8-for-20, 7 TOs, fouled out) might haunt Celtics Twitter for months.

Still, Brown tried to stay positive. “Losing to the Knicks feels like death,” he said. “But I was always taught that there’s life after death.” Now that’s poetry. Or at least a solid Instagram caption.

There’s no sugarcoating it: this loss was a historic beatdown, the kind of L that sticks to a franchise like glitter to carpet. The Celtics didn’t just lose — they got outclassed, outworked, and outplayed. But let’s not bury the era before giving it a proper standing ovation. This Celtics group brought Banner 18 to Boston. They gave fans some of the most thrilling playoff runs in decades. And even in this disappointing ending, they showed heart — they just ran out of legs, and, eventually, out of luck.

So yeah, it’s stormy in Boston right now. But like Jaylen said, “It’s a lot to look forward to… This is not the end.”

Maybe it’s just halftime. Well played defending champs Well played