Payton Pritchard scored a career-playoff-high 32 points off the bench and the Boston Celtics took a 3-1 series lead with a convincing 128-96 road victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night.
Jayson Tatum made five treys and recorded 30 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds and Jaylen Brown added 20 points and seven rebounds as the second-seeded Celtics moved one victory away from winning the Eastern Conference first-round series. Game 5 is Tuesday in Boston.
Pritchard made six 3-pointers and was 12-of-21 from the field while Boston knocked down a franchise-playoff-record 24 treys to help finish off a second straight victory in Philadelphia.
Joel Embiid played for the first time in the series for the seventh-seeded 76ers after undergoing an appendectomy two-plus weeks ago. He scored 26 points on 9-of-21 shooting and collected 10 rebounds and six assists while playing 34 minutes.
Tyrese Maxey scored 22 points and Paul George added 16 for the 76ers.
The Celtics made more 3-pointers than 2-point baskets (18) for the second straight game. Boston shot 48.3% overall and 45.3% from 3-point range.
Embiid was cleared shortly before tipoff and was aggressive at the outset by scoring the 76ers’ first eight points. He wore a brace underneath his jersey to protect his midsection.
Philadelphia made 41.2% of its field-goal attempts, including 9 of 30 (30%) from behind the arc. Quentin Grimes scored 12 points off the bench.
Pritchard began making an impact with 13 first-quarter points, including a quarter-ending 3-pointer to give Boston a 34-18 lead.
Pritchard knocked down another trey to make it 40-19 with 8:51 left in the half. He had 18 at the break as the Celtics led 56-38.
Boston kept the assault going in the third quarter when Brown scored six straight points and Tatum added a trey as Boston’s lead grew to 69-43 with 7:57 left in the third quarter.
Pritchard scored the final four points of the period as the lead sat at 95-74 entering the fourth quarter.
Tatum’s four-point play capped a 9-0 run to start the fourth and pushed the lead to 30. Boston’s advantage topped out at 32 as it cruised to the finish.
