04/28/26 10:16:00
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04/28 22:15 CDT Joel Embiid scores 33 as 76ers beat Celtics 113-97 in Game 5 to
keep their season alive
Joel Embiid scores 33 as 76ers beat Celtics 113-97 in Game 5 to keep their
season alive
By JIMMY GOLEN
AP Sports Writer
BOSTON (AP) --- Joel Embiid was even better in his second game back.
And that was good enough for the Philadelphia 76ers to avoid elimination in
their first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics.
Less than three weeks after an emergency appendectomy knocked Embiid out for
the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs, the Sixers center
scored 33 points as Philadelphia beat Boston 113-97 in Game 5 on Tuesday night.
"He was dominant. Especially the second half, he was extremely dominant," said
Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey, who had 25 points and 10 rebounds. "He did a really
good job of just inserting himself. I was proud of him tonight, man. That's the
dominance that you go into a playoff game with: He did that."
After scoring two points in the first quarter on 1-of-6 shooting, Embiid scored
13 in the second, 10 in the third and eight in the fourth, when the Sixers went
on a 12-0 run to turn a three-point lead into a 15-point runaway.
"I feel like he had too many easy baskets," said Celtics guard Jaylen Brown,
who scored 22 points. "We've got to make him work. ... Tonight he got a bunch
of easy baskets, and I feel like that propelled him."
Paul George had 16 points and nine rebounds for the seventh-seeded Sixers, who
lost Games 3 and 4 at home to fall behind 3-1 in the series before returning to
Boston to keep their season alive.
Jayson Tatum had 24 points and 16 rebounds and Neemias Queta had eight points
and 14 boards for the Celtics, who will try again to eliminate the Sixers back
in Philadelphia in Game 6 on Thursday night. Game 7, if necessary, would be
back in Boston on Saturday.
"No need to put any extra pressure on ourselves," Brown said. "There's enough
of that as it is."
Earlier Tuesday, Celtics president Brad Stevens was named NBA Executive of the
Year for the second time in three seasons after disassembling the team that won
it all two years ago and getting Boston back to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern
Conference.
The Celtics did it despite missing Tatum for all but 16 regular-season games as
he recovered from a torn Achilles tendon.
The Sixers missed the playoffs last year after seven straight postseason
appearances, but earned the No. 7 seed this year with a victory over Orlando in
a play-in game. After losing by 32 in Game 1, they coasted to a win at Boston
in Game 2 but then lost both at home --- with another 32-point blowout in Game
4 on Sunday, despite Embiid finishing with 26 points and 10 rebounds in his
first game since April 6.
"Our fans deserve a win at home. We lost a tough one, then we got blown out of
the water," Maxey said. "After that performance that we put on last time in
front of our fans, that was a disgrace and it was unacceptable."
The Celtics led by 11 in the second quarter and held a 13-point edge early in
the third. Both times Philadelphia rallied within a basket, using a 15-3 run to
make it 66-65 Boston midway through the third.
It was still a one-point Celtics lead heading into the fourth, when George hit
a 3-pointer to give Philly its first lead since the first quarter. After a pair
of 3-pointers by Sam Hauser kept Boston close, Hauser fouled Quentin Grimes
while he was shooting a 3; the three free throws started the Sixers on a
game-ending 19-5 run.
"We got a little rocky start there in the third," Sixers coach Nick Nurse said.
"But then we really, really got going. And then once we closed the gap, we
we're pretty solid."
Boston scored just 10 points in the fourth quarter on 3-of-22 shooting after
making almost half its shots in the first 36 minutes.
"When you have empty possession, empty possession, and you're not getting
stops, it's frustrating," Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.
___
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