Joel Embiid scored 33 points and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Boston Celtics 113-97 in Game 5 on Tuesday night, pushing the No. 7 seed to the brink of a stunning comeback in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Philadelphia had trailed in the series 3-1 after losing Games 3 and 4 at home, but it forced a Game 6 on Thursday night with a finish that left Boston reeling.
Embiid was back in less than three weeks after an emergency appendectomy that had kept him out for the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs, and he changed the game once Philadelphia settled in. Tyrese Maxey added 25 points and 10 rebounds, while Paul George had 16 points and nine rebounds as the 76ers erased a 13-point deficit early in the third quarter. Maxey said Embiid was dominant, especially after halftime, and that he did a really good job of inserting himself into the game.
The 76ers’ response came in waves. They used a 15-3 run to turn a Boston lead into a 66-65 edge midway through the third quarter, then George hit a 3-pointer to give Philadelphia its first lead since the first quarter in the fourth. From there, the Sixers finished on a 19-5 run, while Boston managed just 10 points in the fourth quarter on 3-of-22 shooting.
Jayson Tatum finished with 24 points and 16 rebounds for the Celtics, and Neemias Queta had eight points and 14 rebounds, but Boston could not recover once the game slipped away. Jaylen Brown said the Celtics gave Embiid too many easy baskets and needed to make him work, a criticism that fit the way Philadelphia controlled the closing minutes. Brown also said there was no need to pile extra pressure on the team, because there was already enough of it.
The result kept the series alive after a wild turn for Philadelphia, which lost by 32 points in Game 1, won at Boston in Game 2, then dropped back-to-back home games, including another 32-point blowout in Game 4. The Celtics entered the night as the No. 2 seed and had already seen Brad Stevens named NBA Executive of the Year earlier Tuesday, but none of that mattered once Philadelphia’s surge hit. Nick Nurse said the Sixers had a rocky start in the third before really getting going and becoming solid after they closed the gap.
Maxey said the crowd in Philadelphia deserved a win after the team’s last home performance, which he called a disgrace and unacceptable. That makes Thursday night feel less like an extension of the series than a test of whether the 76ers can turn one comeback into a real threat before the scene shifts back to Boston for a potential Game 7 on Saturday.
