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Tim Bontemps
Multiple Authors
PHILADELPHIA — The 76ers picked a good time to play their most complete game of the season.
Paul George played the best game of his two years in Philadelphia, Joel Embiid flirted with a triple-double, Tyrese Maxey scored 30 points and the Sixers never trailed en route to a 106-93 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
As a result, the best-of-seven series is knotted at 3-3, with a deciding Game 7 in Boston on Saturday.
“I’ve been playing these guys for so long,” Embiid said with a smile afterward, referring to the Celtics. “I’m tired of losing to them. So we have a chance to accomplish something special.
“They’re a great team. When you look at everything you have, that’s a super team, so we just got to go with the mindset we’ve had for the last two games.”
A lot of history will be on the line Saturday in one of the NBA’s most bitter rivalries. Boston has knocked out Philadelphia from the playoffs in six consecutive meetings. The last time the 76ers eliminated the Celtics in the postseason was in 1982.
The Celtics have ended Embiid’s season three times in the playoffs: in Game 5 of the 2018 conference semifinals, in a 2020 first-round sweep and in 2023 in a second-round series that went the distance after the Celtics came from behind to win Game 6 in Philadelphia.
No team has been down 3-1 as many times as Philadelphia without coming back to win a series. It has lost all 18 times. The 76ers will seek to make it 1-18 Saturday at TD Garden.
The 76ers earned that opportunity by playing an excellent all-around game Thursday in front of a raucous home crowd. They controlled the possession game, always a Celtics strong suit, and for a third time in this series held Boston under 30% shooting from 3.
In Boston’s three wins, the Celtics have averaged 20 made 3s and shot 41.7% from 3. They are 17-1 under coach Joe Mazzulla when they shoot 40% from 3 and 19-9 when they’re below that mark.
“I think we’re playing into their hands a little bit,” Celtics guard Jaylen Brown said. “I definitely think, even myself, the type of shots, the type of things they want us to do. That’s not what we’ve been doing all year. But maybe a shift in your approach can open some stuff up offensively for us.”
But Thursday’s game wasn’t as simple as Boston missing its shots. The 76ers controlled the numbers game, shooting more shots, something the Celtics often excel at against their opponents. Maxey, despite having the ball in his hands for almost every possession in which he was on the court, didn’t have a turnover in nearly 40 minutes.
George, on the other hand, might have had his most complete game with the 76ers, going for 23 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in 39 minutes. He also played strong defense on Boston’s wings and hit several timely shots.
“He was huge, man,” Maxey said of George. “He was huge. Paul has been really, really good. He’s been consistent. He’s been a great voice, a great leader for all of us, and we appreciate him.”
And then there was Embiid, who was exactly three weeks out from an emergency appendectomy in Houston. Though his touch remains off — he shot 6-for-18, including 1-for-5 from 3, and is now 2-for-16 from 3-point range in the three games he has played in this series — he had eight assists to only one turnover and provided Philadelphia with a safe harbor from which to operate its offense.
He also didn’t allow Jayson Tatum and Brown to take advantage of him in the pick-and-roll. The Celtics duo had solid but unspectacular games, combining for 35 points on 13-for-30 shooting with five assists and eight turnovers.
“You look at all the shots I’m getting, everything is short, in and out,” Embiid said.
He added: “At some point I’m about to have an extremely efficient night. Hopefully it’s next game.”
Tatum left the court in the third quarter after an apparent issue with his left lower leg, an obvious concern as the superstar forward approaches the one-year anniversary of the torn right Achilles tendon he sustained in last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals series against the New York Knicks.
Tatum went back toward the locker room after subbing out and returned to the bench early in the fourth quarter. At that point, though, with Philadelphia leading 88-65, Mazzulla chose to wave the white flag with 10:24 remaining and sub in his deep bench.
Afterward, Mazzulla said Tatum wasn’t hurt, and Tatum himself downplayed it, saying it should have no impact on his availability moving forward.
“Yeah, you all probably saw when I went to the back, saw me on the bike,” Tatum said. “My leg just was a little stiff when I came out in the third quarter. But, you know, just kind of assessing the moment, like, the game was a little out of reach. We took the starters out and let the bench guys go in.”
The Celtics are trying to advance in the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 years, and to take down Philadelphia for a seventh consecutive time. But even after consecutive strong performances, Embiid’s return and seemingly sorting out some advantages in the matchup, Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse cautioned anyone from reading too much into the way the 76ers played the past couple of games.
“I think we played really well. I think that it doesn’t really matter that much, though,” Nurse said. “I mean, we’ve seen games like this. This is just one game. That’s one story. And you’re going to go back, and it’s just not going to flip a switch and happen again. … We’re going to have to really, really dig in and focus and prepare and get ready for adjustments, and we’re going to have to give a tremendous effort.
“It’s nice to win a couple in a row and it’s nice to win, play the way we did tonight, but it really does not matter. Each game’s its own game.”
