Payton Pritchard made six of Boston’s 24 3-pointers and scored 32 points and Jayson Tatum had 30 points and 11 assists to help the Boston Celtics spoil Joel Embiid’s return from an appendectomy and beat the Philadelphia 76ers 128-96 on Sunday night for a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Boston.
“It’s going to have to be a big pick-up mentally,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said.
Jaylen Brown scored 20 points for the Celtics, who thumped the Sixers by 32 points for the second time in the series. The Celtics outrebounded the Sixers 51-30.
Embiid scored 26 points in 34 minutes just 17 days after having an appendectomy. Embiid wasted little time scoring in his first game since April 6. The two-time NBA scoring champion sank two free throws for the Sixers’ first points of the game, added a monster two-handed jam and scored the team’s first eight points.
Embiid withered after the fast start and missed seven straight shots before he converted a three-point play in the third quarter. That cut the Sixers’ deficit to 23.
The Celtics hardly needed much production from Brown or Tatum — they combined for 50 points in a Game 3 win and only 13 in the first half of Game 4 — and used a whopping 14-rebound edge in the first half that sparked a 13-0 shutout in second-chance points to build a 21-point lead.
All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey took a backseat to Embiid and took only three shots in the first half. He scored 22 points for the Sixers.
Spurs 114, Trail Blazer 93
Victor Wembanyama had 27 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks in his return from a concussion and the San Antonio Spurs took a 3-1 lead in their first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers with a 114-93 victory.
De’Aaron Fox added 28 points for the Spurs, who will return home for Game 5 on Tuesday night.
The Spurs announced about an hour before the game that Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 Defensive Player of the Year, would play after clearing the league’s concussion protocol.
After the game, he indicated that the way his return to play was handled was “very disappointing” but emphasized that he was treated well by the Spurs’ medical staff. He would not elaborate, saying he did not want to be a distraction.
The Spurs trailed the Blazers by 17 points at the half, but the game was knotted at 74 going into the fourth quarter. Fox and Keldon Johnson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Spurs up 90-77 with 7:14 left.
Johnson’s dunk with 4:31 remaining made it 101-81 for San Antonio and all but sealed the win.
Raptors 93, Cavaliers 89
Scottie Barnes hit the go-ahead free throws in the final minute and finished with 23 points, Brandon Ingram also scored 23 and the Toronto Raptors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 93-89, tying the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series at two games apiece.
The best-of-seven series shifts to Cleveland for Game 5 on Wednesday.
“Now it’s a best of three,” Cavaliers guard James Harden said.
RJ Barrett scored 18 points and Collin Murray-Boyles had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who won despite shooting 4 for 30 from 3-point range.
“We’re just trying to go out there and win, take it one possession at a time,” Barnes said. “That’s all we’re focussing on.”
Barnes had nine rebounds and six assists as Toronto won back-to-back postseason games for the first time since a first-round loss to Philadelphia in 2022.