Joel Embiid had 33 points and eight assists as the Philadelphia 76ers avoided elimination and defeated the Boston Celtics 113-97 in Game 5 at TD Garden on Tuesday night.
The Celtics lead the series 3-2, and Game 6 is Thursday night back in Philadelphia.
Embiid, who missed the first three games of the series after having emergency surgery to remove his appendix 19 days ago, assisted or scored on 54 of the team’s 113 points.
The 76ers trailed 57-50 at halftime and got down by as many as 13 points early in the third quarter, but Philadelphia would go 17-5 run, which was punctuated by an Embiid dunk to cut the lead to 68-67. Boston would take an 86-85 lead into the fourth quarter.
In that final quarter, after Sam Hauser’s three-pointer cut Philadelphia’s lead to 94-92 with 7:20 left in the game, the 76ers would go on a 12-2 run to bust the game open. Philadelphia held the Celtics to only 11 points in the fourth on 14%(3-22 FG) shooting from the field.
Tyrese Maxey had 25 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. Quentin Grimes added 18 points off the bench, including four threes and some solid defense, and Paul George chipped in with 19 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, as the 76ers had five players in double figures.
For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum had 24 points and 16 rebounds, and Jaylen Brown added 22 points, five rebounds, and five assists.
Bottom Line:
There’s hope! After Sunday’s blowout loss to the Celtics in Game 4, many pundits said the team might have been better without Embiid. However, it was clear after tonight that this is not true.
When Embiid is flowing, it opens it up for everybody else on the roster. When Embiid is working in the post, like we saw in the second half, he’s tough to stop.
However, with all that said, Embiid will have to do it again in Game 6 and, if necessary, Game 7.
Also, Philly has to keep getting an aggressive Maxey and George. Furthermore, they will need Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre, and Grimes to step up.
Not sure if Embiid can play as he did in Game 5 the rest of the series, but if he can, anything is possible for the 76ers.
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