What is the story about?
We’re not going anywhere just yet.
The Sixers stole another one in Boston, winning Game 5 113-97 to send the series back to Philly at 3-2.
Joel Embiid found himself in the third quarter, leading all scorers with 33 points shooting 12-of-23 from the field along with four rebounds and eight assists. Tyrese Maxey was much more assertive, going for 25 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists on 10-of-18 shooting.
Paul George put up 16 with nine rebounds and seven assists shooting 6-of-13 from the floor. VJ
Edgecombe could at least make a three this time. He finished with 10 points going 3-of-8 from the field. Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 24 while Quentin Grimes had 18 off the bench.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- The Sixers opened the game slowly plodding their way to an Embiid midrange jumper that missed wide. Their possessions got better as Maxey was able to collapse the defense, leading to the ball swinging around the horn for a George three. Kelly Oubre Jr. got into the paint for a layup before George nailed a contested three.
- Boston’s 1-of-7 start to the game wasn’t capitalized on because the Sixers followed it up with a 1-of-8 stretch of their own. The Sixers were generating open threes for Maxey and Embiid but as this series has gone, they couldn’t get them to fall. Only allowing one offensive rebound and 0 second-chance points on the Celtics’ first 10 misses though was a considerably better start on the glass.
- That finally came to an end when they lost Neemias Queta getting back down the floor. He was able to scoop up and put back a botched lob attempt, potentially committing basket interference in the process. Embiid finally made his first field goal on a midrange Maxey set up with a pocket pass, but didn’t get in a groove as he missed a runner the next time down the floor.
- For some reason, Andre Drummond remained Embiid’s backup to start, who just could not keep up closing out on the perimeter against Boston playing 5-out with Nik Vucevic on the floor. It was a better start than the previous game. The Sixers trailed by two after the Celtics shot just 1-of-10 from three in the first.
Second Quarter
- Self-inflicted errors have also been a big theme of this series, and the Sixers opened the second with some pretty sloppy basketball. Embiid got whistled for a couple cheap fouls, one of which became a three-point play for Boston. Grimes threw the ball into two Celtics trying to kick out of a drive, and they missed two free throws on top of that.
- The Sixers’ defense looked as nonexistent as it was in Game 4 to start the quarter with the Celtics easily making seven of their first nine shots. Derrick White fouling Grimes on a three stopped that flow just as things could have gotten really ugly for the Sixers. They got a couple more stops, including a steal leading to a fast break layup to stay within striking distance. The four-point play was the Sixers’ first bench points of the game.
- Embiid took only a 90-second break and he was still struggling to find any sort of rhythm. Maxey again found him wide open near the restricted area but his shot rimmed out. He got one to fall coming out of a timeout, but nearly pump faked himself into a shotclock violation a few possessions later. He was able to end his half with a trip to the line that cut Boston’s lead to seven at the break.
Third Quarter
- It took the Sixers a couple minutes to get going in the second half, minutes they were quickly running out of. Sam Hauser beat a scrambling defense to get to the rim, Jaylen Brown beat the Sixers getting back down the floor for an open cut, and White got to the line to give the Celtics their largest lead of the night. Embiid got rolling, posting up Vucevic, but the Sixers still had their moments shooting themselves in the foot. Right after an away-from-play foul gave Boston an extra free throw, they let Jordan Walsh grab an offensive rebound to bail out a shot clock violation.
- As Embiid kept beating Vucevic in the post, he felt more comfortable with his jumpers as well. They continued to put together stops on the other end. Maxey was able to nab a bad Jayson Tatum pass, starting a fast break that led to an Edgecombe three that pulled them within one.
- Right when Embiid was really rolling offensively, he came down favoring his left leg after rising up to contest a Brown layup. Not only did the rebound fall to the Celtics for another second chance three, but Embiid looked like he hyperextended his knee. He left the game for a quick trip to the locker room but not before the Celtics responded with a 7-0 run.
- The rest of the Sixers did shoot it really well in the third as well though. Going 7-of-12 from behind the arc prevented the Celtics from going on an extended run that could have put the game away. Maxey became the latest, coming off a screen to pull the Sixers within one again entering the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
- Things kept going the Sixers way as PG knocked down a three off the catch to give the Sixers their first lead since the first quarter. The Celtics proceeded to turn the ball over twice in a row, but the Sixers couldn’t capitalize. They only got one basket during a stretch where they forced five stops, a symptom that’s plagued them all series.
- The Sixers were able to answer a couple of Boston threes with Maxey and Embiid getting baskets for themselves before Grimes drew a foul on a three. Somehow they survived a possession where they gave up three straight offensive rebounds. Grimes’ impact in this one was massive. Right after knocking down another three he picked up Brown chasing down a loose ball and locked him up for the length of the shot clock.
- Embiid continued to have a lot of success offensively in the post. He continued to look tired as the quarter dragged along having hardly sat in the second half. The Celtics, really struggling offensively, put Payton Pritchard back on the floor. He was able to get an open jumper but missed as the Celtics missed 11 straight field goal attempts.
- Edgecombe had been the only Sixer on the floor really struggling from the field. Like he did so many times in the regular season, he still hit a big three in the fourth that pushed the Sixers lead to 15 with about two and a half minutes remaining. A few seconds later both teams started emptying their benches.
