Embiid lifts 76ers to crucial road win to put Celtics on brink of elimination

Joel Embiid scored 33 points and the Philadelphia 76ers easily took a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals, beating the Boston Celtics 115-103 on Tuesday night.

It was the third straight 30-point game in the series for Embiid, who also had seven rebounds, four blocks and three 3-pointers.

Tyrese Maxey added 30 points and six 3-pointers. James Harden finished with 17 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.

Jayson Tatum led Boston with 36 points but was just 11-of-27 from the field. Jaylen Brown finished with 24 points. The Celtics went 12-of-38 from the 3-point line.

The previous two occasions the 76ers were in a second-round series that was tied 2-2, they were blown out in Game 5 — a 36-point loss to Toronto in 2019 and 35-point loss to Miami last season.

Not this time.

The 76ers led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter and took an 88-72 lead into the fourth.

A quick flurry by the Celtics cut the deficit to 11, but Philadelphia responded with a 10-2 run to push it back up to 102-83.

Philadelphia made a concerted effort to get the ball to Embiid in the post from the outset. He was able to knock down mid-range jumpers, helping to open the floor for his teammates as Boston's big men were pulled out of the paint.

The 76ers enjoyed an early rebounding advantage and had success with Embiid running pick-and-roll sets at Al Horford. It led to scoring opportunities for Embiid and contributed to Philadelphia building a 15-point lead in the first half.

Tatum missed his first six attempts before hitting a runner with 5:48 left in the second quarter. He finished the first half with 15 points but was just 3 of 11 from the field (1 of 6 from 3-point range).

Boston eventually cobbled together a 10-0 run to cut into the deficit, but Philadelphia settled down and went into halftime with a 58-49 lead.

Jokic secures triple-double as Nuggets top Suns in Game 5

Nikola Jokic had a triple-double after making up with Suns owner Mat Ishbia and Michael Porter Jr. sank five 3-pointers to help the Denver Nuggets beat visiting Phoenix 118-102 on Tuesday night in Game 5 to regain the series lead.

Game 6 is Thursday night in Phoenix. The home team has won every game in the series. If that holds true again, the decisive winner-take-all clash will come Sunday back in Denver, where the top-seeded Nuggets own the NBA's best home record at 39-7, including 5-0 in the playoffs.

After Denver lost two straight at Phoenix, Nuggets coach Michael Malone devised a five-point plan for the Nuggets to regain control of the series: patch up their transition defence, slow Devin Booker, get more from his bench, unleash MPJ and knock down open 3s.

Check, check, check, check and check.

Porter bounced back from a bad night in Game 4 with 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting from long range. Denver outscored Phoenix 31-23 in fast-break points; Booker scored 28 points but missed 11 of 19 shots; Bruce Brown boosted the Nuggets' bench with 25 points and the Nuggets sank 13 of 27 from long range.

Kevin Durant chipped in 26 points for Phoenix.

The Nuggets turned a three-point halftime lead into a 91-74 cushion with a dominant third quarter in which Jokic made seven of eight shots for 17 points and Booker was just 1-for-8 for 3 points.

The chippiness of the series reached a new level in the final minute of the third quarter when Nuggets swingman Brown antagonized the Suns as they huddled up on the court and Durant gave Jokic a forearm shiver. A double technical was assessed on Durant and Brown.

"I was hoping he was going to pay my fine," Jokic cracked after the game.

The Nuggets jumped out to an early 14-point lead but the Suns trailed just 52-49 at halftime, and the game might have been tied had Booker's nearly halfcourt heave left his hands just a tick sooner.