Philadelphia 76ers 115 vs 103 Boston Celtics summary: stats and highlights | NBA Playoffs Game 5

The Philadelphia 76ers marched into Boston and took Game 5 on the road, jumping out to a 3-2 lead from TD Garden on Tuesday night. Joel Embiid looked like the NBA's MVP yet again, scoring 33 points in the 115-103 victory.

Embiid breaks free from brace

The newly named Most Valuable Player in the league had been bothered by a big bulky brace that supported his sprained knee, but in Game 5 doctors gave him the green light to play without it. He looked like the Joel Embiid who won the MVP. The Embiid from the regular season. The Embiid that is capable of taking over games all on his own in the snap of the fingers. 

In the previous game, that was James Harden’s job as he carried the Sixers to wins in Game 1 and Game 4. Harden didn’t have to put up 40 plus on Tuesday night’s game, but he did chip in on the boards and play provider for his teammates, Tyrese Maxey in particular.

Maxey broke out in the playoffs last year, proclaiming himself as a certified scorer in this league, and when the Sixers needed it most he reminded the world of what he is capable of. He had 30 points and hit 6/12 threes while Harden posted 17, 8 rebounds and 10 assists.

Maxey makes it rain

Boston was playing from behind the eight ball the entire night, as Philly dictated the pace and made Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown uncomfortable for much of the first half. Tatum came on late in the second but another slow start meant the Celtics spent the entire game battling back. Brown had 9 in the first in another great start and a slow finish, and neither Brown or Tatum had enough magic to quiet down Embiid.

Tobias Harris played side kick to Embiid in the first half scoring 12 and grabbing 9 assists, but Maxey would take the baton and carry Philly to the finish line. He had 30 points in a game that the Sixers took a 13-10 lead and never looked back.

History favors Sixers

Tatum had just four points with about four minutes left in the first half. He hit a few buckets before the break, and that set him off for a second half and he finished with 36 on the night, but his efforts fell short as Boston was barley able to bring the Sixers within single digits in the final 24 minutes.

The lead built to 21 and midway through the fourth quarter the Celtics had their starters on the bench, looking forward to Game 6 in Philadelphia. The Sixers are in a fantastic position going home in a potential elimination game. Historically, the team that wins Game 5 in a 2-2 tie goes on to win the series 82% of the time.

In the history of the NBA, the team that wins Game 5 with the series tied at 2-2 goes on to win the series 82% of the time. That's great news for a Philly team going back home in a potential elimination game. 

Maxey had yet to really change a game in this series. He was just waiting for the biggest game of the season to carry his side to a huge road win. 

Take a trip back and revisit all of Embiid's highlights from Game 5. 

This should tell you everything you need to know about Joel Embiid and how much he wants NBA Finals glory. He came out of nowhere for the block on Jaylen Brown. 

Embiid started his night with a three ball, and ended his scoring night with a triple as the lead stretched out 21 in the fourth quarter. 

Maxey ended the night 6/12 from deep and finished Game 5 with 30 points to help carry the Sixers to the victory. 

We had barley seen any of Danuel House Jr. this series but he had a big 10 points off the bench. 

Embiid had four blocks in the win and Boston felt his presence every time they got into the paint. That was really where Embiid's mobility was on display, on the defensive end. 

Embiid's jumper looked as smooth as butter in Game 5. The brace may not affected his shot too much, but the more mobility the better and that was the case in the Game 5 win on Tuesday night. 

Embiid had 21 in the first half and Philly led by 9 going into the break. 

Tobias Harris had a monster first half, scoring 12 and grabbing 9 rebounds. He ended with 16 and 11 as he stepped aside and let Tyrese Maxey late in the game.

Harden has had his struggles from the field in this series, but he went 4/6 on the night, all coming in the first half. He ended the night with 17, 8 rebounds and 10 assists. 

James Harden didn't have to be great, but he had to be decisive in Game 5. That's exactly what he was. He was aggresive, he played up tempo and he had another fantastic game in this series. 

Maxey and Embiid got the Sixers started early on scoring 11 points each in the first quarter. 

You had to know it was Joel Embiid's night after seeing this opening three bounce in after hitting off the front iron. It didn't hurt that he got to play Game 5 without his knee brace that had hindered his movement for the previous three games. 

IT'S ALL OVER FROM BOSTON!!! 

PHILLY TAKES A 3-2 ADVANTAGE AFTER CONTROLLING GAME 5 FROM THE START!

Melton with a tip back after following his own miss. 

Pritchard tried another three ball, but missed it this time and the Sixers get the rebound and take a timeout with 1:46 to go. 

Pritchett with another DEEP triple and hold on just a second. The Boston second stringers are trying to mount a late comeback. 

Pritchett with a deep three ball and that gets a little rise out of the crowd with 3:00 to go. 

The Celtics have pulled their starters, waving the white flag and they will set their sights on Game 6 in Philly. 

Hauser hits a three out of the timeout break. 

Maxey is out of control!!! He hits another triple and he's got 30 on the night!!!

Timeout Celtics with under 4 minutes to go. 

Brown at the line after the foul on Embiid and he hits one of two FTs. 

Tucker was left all alone in the corner and he drills the three ball of the kick out from Maxey. 

Tatum finds some space on the perimeter and gets the lay up to go on the drive. 

Maxey to the line after the foul on Williams and he hits both FTs. He's got 27 on the night. 

Embiid with a HUGE block on Brown and earns a trip to the FT line on the other end of the court. He hits one of two FTs. 

Timeout with 5:07 to go in the fourth and the Sixers are on the verge of taking a huge series lead on the road. 

Brown to the line after the foul on Tucker and he hits one of two FTs.

Maxey wiggles into the paint and gets the scoop lay up to fall. 

Brown sticks a three ball in the face of Embiid, and that will be enough for Doc Rivers to call a timeout with 6:45 to go in the fourth. 

Smart back at the line and he hits both FTs after the foul on House. 

Harden running the break and he lobs it up for House for the alley oop lay up!

Maxey get the roll of the rim from the top of the key for a long two. 

Brown comes out of the timeout and he lays it off the glass.

Embiid with am MVP type shot drilling the three ball and taking the wind out of the TD Garden!

Timeout Celtics with 8:31 to go in the fourth. 

Brown at the line after the foul on Harris, but he missed both FTs. 

Maxey silences the crowd with a three ball from the win off the kick out from House!

Tatum with the floater and the foul on House! FT is good. 

Brogdon sees the short hook shot drop in the paint. 

House with another lay in and he's having some great minutes off the bench. 

Brown hits the quick trigger jumper off the inbound. 

House going strong to the bucket and lays it up off the crystal. 

Niang puts it on the deck and gets the floater to go. 

Smart at the line to start the quarter and he hits both after the foul on House. 

WE ARE HEADED TO THE FINAL QUARTER FROM BOSTON!!!

Tatum with a last gasp three before the buzzer sounds to end the quater. He's got 28, but the Celtics trail by 16. 

Fancy pass from Embiid to Maxey as he laid it off over his head and Maxey had a wide open lane for the lay up. 

Embiid stuffed Tatum at the rack and House went sprinting in transition for the lay in on the break. 

Tatum floats one down the lane and gets the foul! FT is good from Tatum and he's got 27 on the night, 12 in this quarter. 

Tatum turned it over and Maxey gets an easy lay up on the other end as a result. 

Lob over the top from Smart to Williams and that's a very rare easy bucket for the Celtics this half. 

Harden hits two of the three FTs out of the timeout and the Sixers lead by 18!

Brown fouled Harden on the three ball and the Sixers will take a timeout with 2:44 to go. Harden's at the line out of the break. 

Pick and pop from Tucker to Embiid and he hits the FT line jumper again. 

Tatum gets back to the iron and lays it in  off the glass. 

Embiid spots up from the FT line and hits the jumper. 

Huge bucket from Tatum who answers with a three ball!!

Maxey drills a three ball off teh kickout from Tucker and he's having a huge game! He's got 16 and Philly have their largest lead of the series. 

Harden fouled by R. Williams and he hits both FTs. 

Brown gets a mid range jumper to fall and he needs to start heating up. It's not Tatum's day, so it's his turn to step up. 

Maxey to the line out of the timeout and he hits both FTs. 

Maxey got fouled and he'll be at the line after a timeout with 6:33 to go in the third. 

Tatum follows up his own miss again and he gets another tip in. 

Embiid spots up and hits the mid range jumper over Horford. 

Brown with a much needed three ball, and will that wake him up on the offensive end?

Harris pull up from outside the lane and he gets the roll. 

Big block from Embiid, but Tatum took the ball right away and goes to the stripe and hits one of two after the foul on Embiid. 

Embiid gets the friendly roll off the iron from the FT line jumper. 

Horford is 0/7 from downtown to start the game. 

Smart fouled Harden from behind the line and Harden hits all three FTs. 

Tatum fights for his own rebound and gets the lay up to drop on the put back. 

Harris with a tip in to start the second half and he's got 12 and 10 on the night. 

WE ARE BACK UNDERWAY FOR THE SECOND HALF OF ACTION FROM BOSTON!!!

Embiid leads all scorers with 21 points at the break and he is well on his way to another huge night. 

Tobias Harris is having himself a night. He's got 12 pointes and 9 rebounds in the first half. 

It took him a while, but Tatum finally saw a field goal fall through the net. Once he saw that, he couldn't be stopped. 

Harden has had his off nights and his on nights in this series. It seems like tonight is going to be an on night. He's 4/6 after two quarters in the TD Garden. 

Jaylen Brown has had some sensational first quarters in this series, but he was a bit more contained in the first 12 of tonight's game. He's got 10 heading into the third quarter. 

Harden made sure he wasn't going to take too long to get into the ball game. He had a couple quick buckets and has 10, 4 and 4 at the break. 

Maxey came out of the gate firing. He had 11 points to match Embiid at the end of the first quarter. 

Joel Embiid came into Game 5 with no brace on that injured right knee and it showed. He looks much more fluid moving around the court and even got this stroke of luck to start the game. 

Maxey and Embiid started the game with 11 points each, in the second half Embiid continued to carry the Sixers with 10 more points. Harris has 12 and 3 in a surprise first half from the Philly role player, and Harden has 10 on the night and is 4/6 from the field. 

Tatum was sturggling from the field, missing his first eight shots but bounced back and scored 15 before halftime. Smart and Brown both have 10, but the C's trail by 9. 

WE ARE AT THE END OF THE FIRST HALF FROM BOSTON AND IT'S BEEN ALL PHILLY SO FAR!!!

Maxey got a piece of Tatum and sent him to the line where he hits both FTs and he's got 9 quick points and 15 in the half. 

Smart at the line after the foul on Harris and he hits one of two FTs. 

Embiid spots up from the elbow and he hits another jumper! He is looking awfully comfortable without that big brace on his knee. 

Tatum to the line after the foul on Melton and he's having a late half surge. Both FTs are good and he's got 7 quick points. 

Harris to the line and he hits one of two FTs after the foul on White. 

Tatum drills a three ball and he finally sees a jump shot go in. He had lay ups and dunks before that. 

Embiid at the line after the foul on Horford and he hits both FTs with under two minutes to go in the half. 

Embiid at the line after the foul on Horford and he hits both FTs with 2:25 to go in the half. 

Horford with the offensive board, and it leads to a Tatum jam on a slash to the bucket!

Brown just picked up his third foul on a charge and he's heading to the bench for the rest of the quarter. 

Harris with the catch and shoot three ball and he's got 11 after the kick out from Embiid!

G. Williams picks up his second quick foul and he sends Embiid back to the line where he hits both FTs. 

Embiid at the line and he hits both FTs after the foul on G Williams. 

Tatum is finally on the board with his first FG with a floater in the lane after a couple quick crossovers. 

Harris off the curl and he hits the jumper from the elbow. He's got 8 on the night. 

Someone on the Boston bench was called for a technical after a foul on Tucker, and Harden hits the technical FT. 

Smart goes to the line from the Tucker foul and he hits one of two FTs. 10-0 run for BOS.

Tatum forced his way to the iron and he was fouled by Harris. He hits one of two from the line, he is still looking for his first FG of the half. 

Brogden hangs it high off the glass and the Sixers will call a timeout with 8:08 to go in the half after a 6-0 run from Boston.

White to the line after getting fouled by Harden from behind the line and he hits all three FTS. 

Smart gets a hard earned couple of FTs, and he hits one of two FTs after the foul on Niang. 

Harden dumps it off on the pick and roll and Reed was there streaking to the bucket for the jam!

Brown heads to the line after the timeout and he hits one of two FTs after the foul on Reed. 

House with the rebound and he goes coast to coast for the lay up and Boston wants a timeout with 10:28 to go in the half. 

Harden gets into the lane and strokes the fader in the paint. He's got a quick 10. 

Harden pulls up from long range and hits the three to start the quarter!

WE ARE AT THE END OF THE FIRST QUARTER!!!

The Sixers pulled ahead in the opening 12 minutes after 11 points from Embiid and Maxey. Harden has 5 and Harris has 6 and 5. 

Brown has 9, Tatum has just two from the line, and Smart hit two threes to start the game to end the quarter with 6. 

Maxey drills another triple try and he and Embiid both have 11!

Brown answers back with a three ball of his own off the kick out from Tatum!

Embiid was left all alone at the top of the key and he snaps the net with a three ball!

R. Williams got the entry pass from Tatum and got the close range effort to go over Embiid. 

Maxey pulls up from the top of the key and nails the three! He's got a quick 8 points!

Tatum fouled on the baseline drive, and he hits both FTs after the foul by Embiid. 

Maxey was left all alone on the curl out of the timeout and he scoops a lay up off the glass. 

Brown hits back to back buckets and that will bring a timeout from the Sixers with 3:38 to go in the first quarter. 

Harris hits the short jumper from the baseline and he's off to a night start with 6. 

White going back at the rack and he's got a couple lay ups right at the cup. 

Harden going to the rack strong, and he lays it up in traffic. That's how the Sixers want to see The Beard play. 

Embiid was left open at the three point line and he hits the jumper. 

Harden with the step back jumper from just out side the lane and he's got his first FG after a FT made just a minute ago. 

Brogdon strings a three in the corner right off the bench!

Harden at the line out of the timeout, and he hits one of two FTs. 

We are headed to our first timeout with under 7 to go in the first quarter. We've had a few lead changes a few ties and a quick start to this Game 5. 

Maxey pulls up from downtown and he starts his night off from long range!

Harris follows up the miss from Maxey and gets the put back. 

Whte spinning to the rack and he hits the lay up in the paint. He's had a rough go from the field, maybe that will get him going.

Embiid with the board the put back and the foul! He hits the FT to complete the three point play and tie the game. 

Brown starts his night off with a short lay in. Does he have any first quarter heroics in store tonight?

Harris gets a jam on the slash to the rack and Harden found him down the lane. 

Smart with two in a row from downtown and what a start to Game 5 he's having!

Smart gets the Celtics going with a three of his own!

Embiid pulled up from long range with the shot clock running down and he hits the three ball after it popped high off the front iron! What a way to start the game!

WE ARE UNDERWAY FROM BOSTON IN GAME 5 OF THE EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS!

It's Horford, White and Smart on the front line with Brown and Tatum to start the game. Jaylen Brown has been sensational in the first quarter this series, and will look to get off to a hot start again tonight in front of his home fans. 

The Sixers are going with old faithful tonight in Game 5 on the road. PJ, Harris and Maxey have all had their hands in the two wins so far this series, but it's going to be up to the MVP and the former MVP to lead the way. Philly would love to see Harden get going early, let's see if they don't try to get him some early buckets to start the game. 

Big money for Brown in near future?

As if the NBA Playoffs isn’t enough of a pressure situation, Jaylen Brown may not admit it but he will certainly be keeping an eye on the NBA First-Team announcement that should be coming within the next night or two. If he is named to the All-NBA First Team he will be eligible of getting a max contract $290 million deal with the Celtics if he so chooses. If he doesn’t get that, the Celtics would probably bring that number down considerably in negations this offseason. Which could mean him moving on from Boston, and who knows what that could mean to the Celtics chances at a title beyond this season. 

James Harden has had a roller coaster of a series, scoring 45 points in the win over Boston in Game 1. He then went on to shoot 5/28 in the next two games, and the criticism rained down upon the former NBA MVP. Last game he was sensational, and he might have had a good luck charm in the crown at the Wells Fargo Center.

Just a few months ago John Hao was in a fight for his life after being paralyzed in a mass shooting at Michigan State University. Hao, a life long fan of James Harden was hospital ridden for nearly three months until he was released from the hospital last week. In his time in the hospital, Harden and him formed a friendship where the Sixers start would call and check in on him from time to time.

When news broke that he could leave the hospital, Harden was quick to make Hao his special invite to Game 4, and boy did he put on a show for his guest. Harden said after the game that he needs Hao from here on out at every playoff game in Philly for the rest of the way. 

Tatum waiting for his moment

Jayson Tatum may have had just one field goal in the first half of Game 4, which came in the final minute of the second quarter, but he came back in the second half with a huge performance that almost led his side to victory. Sure he had just two points going into halftime, but he was doing everything else for his side. He was creating off the pass, he was rebounding and he was defending. The Celtics know when he has a big offensive game their chances of winning go through the roof, but even if he doesn’t Boston have the team to win without their star playing like their star. 

Embiid looking like his old self

Joel Embiid is having a strange series. He missed Game 1, needing a little more time to heal his sprained LCL, and watched James Harden put on a show in the opener to lead his side to victory. He came back for Game 2, but was noticeably out of game shape and in Game 2, scoring just 15 points and grabbing three rebound in the loss on the road.

On his return to the City of Brotherly Love he was awarded the MVP, and looked back to his best in Game 3 from Philly. He had 30 points and 13 rebounds but the Sixers fell to the Celtics in the first home game of the series. Last game he had 34 and 13, but it was Harden who won the game as both MVPs combined for 76 points in the win.

This series has shown us there is no recipe for success, but if Embiid is scoring 30 and grabbing 10 rebounds that can’t hurt their chances for success.

Game 4 recap

It seemed as though all of the critics that had been falling on the name of James Harden didn’t fall on deaf ears. The former MVP and NBA scoring champ had something to say after struggling from the field for Games 2 and 3 after a fantastic start to the series.

Game 4 went to overtime as both teams went toe to toe for 48 minutes, and that wasn’t enough to decide a winner. Harden went wild in the second quarter, scoring 12 points in the first four minutes, and finishing the half with 21 points. Jayson Tatum was held to just two points in the first two quarters, but came to life in the final half. Philly went to the fourth quarter up nine points, but scored just 15 in the final 12 minutes allowing the Celtics to take the lead late in the game.

Harden saved the day and hit a floater late in the fourth to send the game to overtime and then banged home a three in the corner to seal the Game 4 OT win and even the series at 2-2. 

We are live from Boston

Hello everyone and welcome to TD Garden where the series is back to even and there’s no telling what to expect in this Game 5. We have seen Joel Embiid play fantastic basketball, and the Sixers lose. We have seen Jayson Tatum score just 7 points and the Boston Celtics win on the road. James Harden has had his ups and downs in the series but when he’s been on the up it has translated to Sixers wins. That’s what they will be hoping for tonight after another narrow victory thanks to the heroics of Harden late last game. 

Sixers vs. Celtics Game 5 live

We are back to Boston with the series level at two games a piece in the Eastern Conference after both the Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers earned wins on the road to reset us back to 0-0 and now it’s a mad dash. The first team that wins two of the next three games will be moving on to the next round of the playoffs and will take a step closer to the NBA Finals. AS English will be with you all night providing with live stats, scores highlights and analysis of tonight’s heavyweight bout from Boston.