Boston spoils Embiid’s return to take commanding 3-1 lead

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Not even Joel Embiid’s return could stop the rolling Boston Celtics in the postseason.

Despite coming back 17 days after undergoing emergency surgery for appendicitis, Embiid failed to stop the Celtics from spoiling his 2025-26 NBA playoff debut with a one-sided beating of the Philadelphia 76ers, 128-96, to grab a 3-1 series lead on April 27, 2026.

With the demolition, the Celtics moved a win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinal round and will have the chance to close out the series at home on April 29, 2026.

A quick jolt of electricity immediately filled Xfinity Mobile Arena after Embiid scored Philadelphia’s first eight points, muscling his way inside the shaded lane while also hitting his first perimeter jumper from the left baseline.

However, Embiid’s hot start was quickly overshadowed by Payton Pritchard’s off-the-bench brilliance as the former NBA Sixth Man of the Year carried the Celtics upon checking into the ballgame.

With Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown having a rough start buying a bucket, Pritchard entered an unconscious state, dropping 13 points in just six minutes of the first quarter to help Boston cap the opener with a 34-18 advantage.

Pritchard’s impressive scoring performance set the tone for the Celtics as the dynamic duo of Tatum and Brown finally picked up their shooting rhythm, backstopped by Neemias Queta and Nikola Vucevic’s defensive disruption on Embiid, who slowed down midway through the second frame.

The perfect recipe for disaster and agony was then inflicted on the 76ers as Boston kept pounding them harder as the quarters progressed, led by Pritchard, who still caught fire despite spending a lot of time on the bench before returning at the 5:05 mark of the third period.

Without anything clicking for head coach Nick Nurse and Philadelphia, the desperate 76ers tried to run the majority of their offense through Embiid on the left block, but Boston was quick to counter with soft double teams on the baseline.

The icing on the cake came at the six-minute mark when Tatum hit back-to-back 3-pointers, followed by a Brown slam dunk that extended Boston’s biggest lead of the ballgame to 32 points.

Pritchard wrapped up his best playoff performance so far with a game-high 32 points on an efficient 12-of-21 shooting from the field, alongside five assists, four rebounds, and a steal.

Tatum never lost a step for the Celtics and delivered a double-double outing of 30 markers, 11 dimes, and seven boards, while Brown chipped in 20 points, seven rebounds, and a block.

On the other hand, Embiid gave his all in hopes of equalizing the series at 2-all in front of their home fans, but his 26-point performance wasn’t enough to help Philadelphia seal the deal and pull off another upset.