The Philadelphia 76ers traveled back to Boston and faced the Celtics in order to stay alive to force a game six. The Celtics led the series 3-1 and the game would start off much closer then game four.
Paul George would get the scoring started for the Sixers with a three from the wing. Derrick White would get a floater in the lane for the Celtics first points. Tyrese Maxey hit a spin move fall away jumper to get his first bucket of the game. Jaylen Brown drove right at VJ Edgecombe for a tough and-one but missed the free throw. Nikola Vucevic did a pump fake against Andre Drummond and drove right around and threw it down with his left hand over Kelly Oubre Jr. His dunk got the Celtics bench on their feet. Boston led 23-21 at the end of the first quarter.
Payton Pritchard got the and-one against Joel Embiid to begin the second. After a layup by White Boston had their largest lead at the time with a 37-27 lead. Quentin Grimes hit a three with a chance at a four point play. Brown had a nice crossover against Oubre Jr. and then found Neemias Queta for the and-one slam. The Celtics led 57-50 entering halftime. Embiid had 15 first half points for the 76ers.
Sam Hauser had a running floater in the lane for the first bucket out of halftime. Paul George drove right and made a tough finish over two Celtics. An Edgecombe three made it a 15-3 run for the 76ers in the last 3:51. Jayson Tatum and Grimes would trade threes. Maxey hit a wing three-pointer with the final seconds of the quarter winding down. Boston led 86-85 at the end of the third.
George hit a three to begin the fourth and gave the Sixers the lead. Brown threw a lob to Queta who floated it in plus the foul. Embiid and Maxey would have back to back tough fallaway jumpers. Philly would close the game on a 16-3 run and force a game six. The 76ers won 113-97.
Embiid led the way for the Sixers with 33 points and eight assists. Maxey had a double double of 25 points and 10 rebounds. Grimes had a big game off the bench with 18 points and George had 16. Tatum had a double-double of 24 points and 16 rebounds. Brown had 22 points but not on the best efficiency. As a team the Celtics shot 40 percent from the field. Philadelphia made 15 threes and shot 36 percent from beyond the arc.
The Celtics now lead the series 3-2. The series shifts back to Philadelphia for game six this Thursday April 30 at 8 pm.
