Having silenced the TD Garden crowd and put the defending Eastern Conference champion Celtics on the brink of a second-round exit, 76ers players barely cracked a smile as they walked off the court. “It’s not over.
We have to get one more,” Joel Embiid said. “All of us. We have to show up.” They’ll soon get that chance. Embiid scored 33 points and Philadelphia easily took a 3-2 lead in the East semi-finals, beating Boston 115-103 on Tuesday night.
The 76ers led by as many as 21 points in the fourth quarter as home fans booed the Celtics, and can close out the series and advance to the conference finals when they host Game 6 on Thursday night.
Philadelphia haven’t reached that stage of the playoffs since 2001. “What we did tonight, it’s easier said than done. But we have to do it again,” Embiid said.