PHILADELPHIA — — Payton Pritchard hit six of Boston’s 24 3-pointers and scored 32 factors and Jayson Tatum had 30 factors and 11 assists to assist the Boston Celtics spoil Joel Embiid’s return from an appendectomy and beat the Philadelphia 76ers 128-96 on Sunday evening for a 3-1 lead of their first-round playoff sequence.
Game 5 is Tuesday evening in Boston.
Jaylen Brown scored 20 factors for the Celtics, who thumped the Sixers by 20-plus factors for the second time within the sequence.
Embiid scored 26 factors in 34 minutes simply 17 days after having an appendectomy. Embiid wasted little time scoring in his first sport since April 6. The two-time NBA scoring champion sank two free throws for the Sixers’ first factors of the sport, added a monster two-handed jam and scored the group’s first eight factors.
Embiid withered after the quick begin and missed seven straight pictures earlier than he transformed a three-point play within the third quarter. That reduce the Sixers’ deficit to 23 factors.
The Celtics hardly wanted a lot manufacturing from Brown or Tatum — they mixed for 50 factors in a Game 3 win and solely 13 within the first half of Game 4 — and used a whopping 14-rebound edge within the first half that sparked a 13-0 shutout in second-chance factors to construct a 21-point lead.
Tyrese Maxey scored 22 factors for the Sixers.
Embiid had an appendectomy in Houston on April 9 after Philadelphia’s star huge man was stricken with appendicitis in a single day. He returned to the court docket Sunday carrying a protecting brace round his midsection and was cleared to play about 40 minutes earlier than the scheduled tipoff.
Whatever emotional raise he offered lasted solely minutes into the primary quarter.
Pritchard, who adjusted his sport, first as a starter after which by returning to the bench position that earned him Sixth Man of the Year honors final season, buried a protracted 3 on one leg to finish the primary quarter and provides Boston a 34-18 lead. Embiid made 3 of 5 pictures within the first quarter whereas the remainder of the Sixers missed 10 of 13 pictures.
The Celtics received Game 1 by 32 factors and the Sixers responded with a shock 111-97 win in Boston in Game 2. Maxey scored 31 factors and shot the Sixers right into a fourth-quarter lead in Game 3 earlier than Tatum and Brown took over down the stretch for the Celtics in a 108-100 victory.
There have been some questions on how Tatum’s return in early Marc h from the ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered within the playoffs final May would have an effect on the circulate of a bunch that had realized to regulate and thrive with out the six-time All-Star.
Instead, Tatum has reacclimated himself in brief order and the Celtics are dominating like a group that feels as if the East will undergo Boston.
Embiid’s gutsy return mattered little, and now the Celtics can clinch the sequence at dwelling and watch for the winner of the Atlanta Hawks–New York Knicks sequence.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
