BOSTON — The Philadelphia 76ers had been in a similar position: a 2-2 series entering Game 5 with a chance to take control of the series. In the past, they had fallen flat.
In 2021, they blew a 26-point lead at home to the Atlanta Hawks. In 2022, they fell flat on their face in a blowout loss to the Miami Heat.
In 2023, the Sixers flipped the script.
Philadelphia led the Boston Celtics by as many as 21 on Tuesday, and they kept the Cs at arm’s length in a 115-103 win. MVP Joel Embiid delivered a huge performance by going for 33 points with seven rebounds and four blocks as he made sure the Sixers stayed focused on the task at hand.
“He was professional,” coach Doc Rivers said of Embiid. “He was locked in, patient. Our first three possessions were horrendous. I think the first three times, anybody touched it, they shot, and I was about to call a timeout. Then the next possession, bam, bam, bam, guy got a 3, and we were off to playing right and we played right from that point on.”
Tuesday’s performance, and really this entire series outside of the Game 2 return, was terrific for Embiid. Especially, when considering he is still playing through an LCL sprain that is not healed just yet. The big fella has proven to be a warrior and wants to be out there for his team in this moment.
“I need to do a lot, but that’s my job and I love the grind of it,” Embiid said. “There’s not much to say. Gotta keep doing whatever I can to protect myself, but at the end of the day, when I get on the floor, I don’t think about the injury.”
Of course, Embiid is still worried about things like swelling and pain when it comes to this injury, but if one watches him on the floor, one would assume that nothing is wrong with him. The MVP big man has just been hoopin’.
“No matter how painful it is and how much it hurts, you wanna compete every single possession, and put myself and the team in the best positions to succeed,” Embiid added. “Day-by-day, you never know what can happen whether it’s the swelling, the pain, so you just gotta pray.”
The second quarter is what stands out. Embiid was terrific against Al Horford, Robert Williams III, Grant Williams or whoever the Celtics stuck on him. Embiid had 10 points in the second and every time Boston tried to make a run, he had an answer.
“I don’t think it was Al, I just think he was targeting whoever,” Rivers added. “He came in the game, listen, he wanted to play. The whole team did. I thought our composure overall was really good. You know they’re gonna make runs, they’re gonna make shots, and that team is tough. They just keep making tough shots and you just gotta breathe through it. You really do and I thought our guys did that.”
Embiid and the Sixers will look to close this series out on Thursday back at home.
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