Joel Embiid scores 33 as 76ers beat
Celtics 113-97 in Game 5 to keep their season alive
[April 29, 2026]
By JIMMY GOLEN
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.
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Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) takes a shot over Boston
Celtics center Neemias Queta (88) during the second half of Game 5
of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series, Tuesday, April 28,
2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
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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