The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Boston Celtics 115-103 Tuesday night to take a 3-2 series lead. They have a chance to close the series out and advance to the Easter Conference Finals with a win in Philadelphia on Thursday.
Timeouts doing the trick
Almost every Sixers possession early revolved around the Harden-Embiid two-man game. Harden was initially deferential and determined to get Embiid face-up opportunities against Al Horford, who’d done impressive work on the exhausted MVP late in Game 4. Embiid narrowly missed a couple of mid-range jumpers, but both he and Harden generally made solid decisions. The Sixers didn’t commit a turnover until nearly five minutes into the second quarter.
Maxey’s ATO lay-in got him rolling. He hit three long-range jumpers late in the first, confidently firing whatever jumpers were available.Before Tuesday, Danuel House Jr. had only been asked to play a single meaningful possession in the series. In Game 3, he played 19 seconds of defense. But as long as Embiid continued to touch the ball, extended scoreless periods didn’t appear likely. Over the final 5:32 of the second quarter, he both drew and converted nine foul shots. The Celtics were predictably displeased with a whistle or two, but Embiid’s adroit footwork, fakes, and varied timing on his post moves exploited Boston’s aggressive defense.
Meanwhile, House added four more layups after halftime and one big assist on a Maxey three early in the fourth quarter. His 15 minutes were impactful.Though the Celtics missed plenty of open looks from long distance — most notably Horford, who shot 0 for 7 from three-point land — the Sixers’ defensive effort was outstanding. In the second quarter, Maxey didn’t budge against Horford in the post and Boston’s big man wound up throwing the ball out of bounds.
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