We started this series by looking back on one of Joel Embiid’s early postseasons with the Sixers, as the big man had a dominant Game 3 in 2019 against Toronto. At that time, fans were viewing the Sixers in a very positive light. Fast forward seven years to 2026, and fans had all but tapped out on the team’s chances of making any noise in the postseason. Then, Embiid and company found a way back into a series they appeared to have no chance in.
Final Score: Sixers 113, Celtics 97
Series score after
result: Boston leads 3-2
Embiid’s stat line: 33 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 12-23 FGs, 0-5 3PTFGs, 1 block, +13 rating
Before the game started, it felt like a funeral. Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence Boston was donning its black uniforms. The Celtics blew out the Sixers in Game 4 after smoking them in Game 1 and winning a hard-fought Game 3. Boston was returning to its home floor up 3-1 in the best-of-seven and poised to make quick work of the Sixers, like most No. 2 seeds tend to do against No. 7 seeds in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Once the game started, nothing happened in the first half that indicated otherwise. The Celtics led 57-50 at the break and conventional wisdom told everyone Boston would pull away even more in the second half and win by double digits to close out the series and eliminate the Sixers from the postseason for the fourth time since 2018. There was really no reason to believe anything would change, until it did.
I’m not sure what happened at halftime and into the second half, but the Sixers dominated the final 24 minutes of Game 5, holding Boston to just 11 points in the fourth quarter, behind a recharged Embiid. After missing the first three games of the series, Embiid returned in Game 4 at home and did not look like himself. A narrative quickly emerged that the former MVP had returned too quickly after the Sixers won Game 2 on the road and competed for the full 48 minutes in Game 3. But Embiid found a way to integrate himself come Game 5.
The eight assists are by far the most impressive piece of Embiid’s stat line as they are emblematic of how the Sixers got back into a series they didn’t appear to have a chance in. Of course, Embiid led the way and was doing practically whatever he wanted to do inside the arc and scoring with ease. But, in addition to Embiid, Philly had four other scorers in double figures in Game 5. No Sixer besides Embiid attempted more than 18 field goals in the game. Everyone was getting involved and suddenly the Sixers looked like a confident group after six straight quarters of getting thoroughly outplayed between Game 4 and the first half of Game 5.
Maybe this was the perfect storm for Embiid and the Sixers to relight a flame that had been extinguished for years. After losing a competitive seven-game series against the Celtics in the 2023 second round, Philly had produced a mediocre 2023-24 season, a disastrous 2024-25 campaign and another mediocre year in 2025-26. No one really thought Philly was anything more than a play-in tournament team for most of 2025-26 and certainly when the Sixers drew Boston in the first round, many people quickly advanced the Celtics into the second round.
Down 3-1 in the series and down seven at half on the road in Game 5, there wasn’t a lick of pressure on the Sixers but they seemed to embrace that in the second half. We all know the Sixers brought this lack of expectation on themselves with nearly a decade of playoff disappointment having piled up. But, to their credit, they could have laid down. Embiid didn’t have to play in Game 5 after an abysmal Game 4. Not only did he suit up, but Embiid got the Sixers back up off the mat with a stellar performance away from home.
