The Philadelphia 76ers went on the road and stunned the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of their second-round playoff series on Tuesday night, 115-103. After this comprehensive performance, the Sixers suddenly have a 3-2 lead and will have a chance to close out the series at home on Thursday in Game 6.
Joel Embiid started the game with a desperation heave to beat the shot clock which bounced off the front rim, went into the air and came down through the net. The Sixers took that bit of good fortune and never looked back. They led for nearly the entire game and spent all but a few seconds of the second half up by double digits.
That was thanks in large part to Embiid, who went for 33 points and seven rebounds, but he had plenty of help in this one. Tyrese Maxey dropped 30 points of his own, James Harden just missed a triple-double with 17 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists and Tobias Harris added 16 points and 11 rebounds. Even Danuel House, who had barely played in the series, chipped in 10 points and five rebounds.
The Celtics got 36 points, 10 rebounds and five assists from Jayson Tatum and 24 points from Jaylen Brown, but no one else came along for the ride. As a team, they shot 39.8 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from 3-point land, and those numbers were even worse before some cheap garbage time buckets.
Here are some key takeaways from the game:
Tyrese Maxey comes up clutch
The Sixers evened the series in Game 4 thanks almost entirely to Joel Embiid and James Harden, but while those two are some of the best offensive talents of this era, it's not sustainable to rely on two players every single night. At some point, someone else on the Sixers was going to have to step up; Tyrese Maxey did just that on Tuesday night.
While Embiid and Harden both played well, Maxey was the real difference-maker. He poured in 30 points and added seven points and three assists on 10-of-21 from the field and 6-of-12 from 3-point land. In the last three games of this series combined, he had 30 points on 16-of-47.
Maxey also hit one of the biggest shots of the game, a 3-pointer with 9:24 remaining that sucked the life out of the crowd. The Celtics had cut the deficit down to 11 and were building up some momentum to perhaps make another furious fourth-quarter comeback, but Maxey drained a cold-blooded 3 to make it 14 again. The Celtics never mustered up the energy for another serious push.
Celtics have disastrous offensive showing
The Celtics were one of the best offensive teams in the league this season, but you would not have known from watching Game 5. They weren't just below their standards, they were woeful, turning in one of their worst efforts on that side of the ball all year.
They were 33-of-83 from the field overall, 12-of-38 from 3-point land and 25-of-34 from the free throw line, and those numbers were only even that good because of a fruitful garbage time. Their 39.8 percent field goal percentage was their sixth-worst mark all season, their 31.8 percent showing from downtown was tied for their worst of the playoffs and the nine missed free throws were a season-high.
The Sixers' defense certainly played a part in the Celtics' off-night; Joel Embiid, in particular, was destructive at the rim. But they also just missed a ton of shots they would normally make, whether it was wide-open 3-pointers or easy looks in the paint. This kind of rough shooting night is where blowing Game 1 really comes back to bite them.
Sixers on the brink of first conference finals since 2001
The Sixers have had plenty of regular season success in the past few decades, and especially since Joel Embiid established himself as a franchise player, but they've never been able to translate it into deep playoff runs, for a myriad of reasons. Now, finally, it may be their time.
They are one win away from their first conference finals appearance since 2001, when Allen Iverson led them to the Finals. Since then, they've made the playoffs in 13 of 22 seasons, but have won just seven series and never made it past the second round.
History says they will get there. When series are tied 2-2, as this one was, the team that wins Game 5 is 187-41 all time. That doesn't mean the Sixers' work is done -- the Celtics came back from a 3-2 deficit after losing Game 5 at home in the second round last season -- but the series is now in their hands.