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One-time NBA MVP Joel Embiid returned to the court just 17 days after undergoing an appendectomy, but even his 26 points could not inspire the Philadelphia 76ers in a 128-96 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of their opening-round playoff series.
The Celtics lead the best-of-seven set, 3-1.
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Payton Pritchard led all scorers with 32 points off the bench for the Celtics (two points shy of Kevin McHale’s franchise-record 34 playoff points off the bench).
Jayson Tatum came within three rebounds of a triple-double, totaling 30 points, 11 assists and 7 rebounds. Jaylen Brown added 20 points and 7 rebounds for Boston.
Embiid’s 26 points led the Sixers, who also got 22 points from Tyrese Maxey.
Now, the takeaways.
Payton Pritchard, spark plug
Pritchard, the NBA’s 2025 Sixth Man of the Year, sparked a bench barrage.
The Celtics guard scored 13 of his 32 points in the opening quarter, even converting a signature buzzer-beater at the end of the first, as his team took an early 34-18 lead.
The Celtics combined to score 24 points off the bench in the opening quarter, the most ever in the play-by-play era. Boston’s reserves combined to shoot 5-for-8 from 3-point range in the frame. Pritchard hit three of them, including the buzzer-beater.
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The Celtics needed the minutes, too, at least from their bigs, since Neemias Queta got into early foul trouble, working opposite Embiid. Both Nikola Vučević and Luka Garza played admirably off the bench, forcing Embiid to cover them out to the arc.
Boston’s bench outscored its Philadelphia counterparts, 55-24.
Joel Embiid makes his series debut
Embiid looked a lot like Embiid, which is to say he was laboring a bit. Understandable, considering he is less than three weeks removed from an appendectomy, his latest bizarre injury. But let’s not pretend he did not look a lot like this in the regular season, playing 1,200 minutes over 38 games on a surgically repaired left knee and right foot.
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Embiid looking like Embiid also meant he was ever-present for stretches, which can be both a good thing and a bad thing. He did average a 27-8-4 in the regular…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/celtics-76ers-game-4-takeaways-bostons-historic-night-plus-the-good-and-bad-from-joel-embiids-return-015721030.html
Author : Ben Rohrbach
Publish date : 2026-04-27 01:57:00
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