A Mind-blowing Batch Of Stats From An Unlikely 76ers Comeback Vs. The Celtics

A mind-blowing batch of stats from an unlikely 76ers comeback vs. the Celtics originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

I hope you didn’t turn the TV off when the Celtics were up 13. 

The Celtics went up 63-50 a couple minutes into the third quarter Tuesday night in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference First-Round series at TD Garden.

The rest of the game? Sixers 63-44.

It added up to an improbable 113-97 Sixers win,  reducing the Celtics’ lead in the best-of-seven series to three games to two.

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THEY SCORED 11 POINTS: The Celtics have played 400 home playoff games in franchise history, and their 11 points Tuesday night are the 4^th-fewest they’ve ever scored in the fourth quarter of a home playoff game. They scored nine against the Bucks in 1983, 10 against the 76ers (Syracuse Nationals) in 1954 and 10 vs. the Pacers in 2005. It’s their 5^th-fewest in any game in 754 all-time playoff games. It’s their fewest 4^th-quarter points vs. the 76ers in any game – regular season or postseason – in 36 years, since they had nine in a 97-93 76ers win at Boston Garden in 1988. The 76ers’ 17-point 4^th-quarter advantage – 28-11 – is the 5^th-largest ever against the Celtics in a playoff game and it’s tied for the 76ers’ 2^nd -largest ever. Their only larger 4^th-quarter playoff margin was 18 points (32-14) in a win over the Heat in their 2018 Eastern Conference 1^st-round game at American Airlines Arena.

BIGGEST LOST EVER: The Celtics led 86-85 going into the fourth quarter before losing by 16 points. That makes this the Celtics’ worst loss ever when they led going into the fourth quarter. Their previous biggest loss after leading going into the fourth quarter was 15 points when they led the Pistons 73-71 in Game 3 of their 1989 Eastern Conference First-Round series before losing 100-85 at Boston Garden. It was also the 76ers’ biggest postseason win after trailing going into the fourth quarter. They won three games by eight points after trailing after three quarters, most recently in 1982, when they trailed the Celtics 90-88 going into the fourth quarter of Game 2 of their 1982 Eastern Conference Finals series at Boston Garden before winning 121-113. The Celtics were 46-5 in their last 51 playoff games when they had the lead going into the fourth quarter and 60-5 all-time vs. the 76ers when leading in the playoffs going into the fourth quarter.

MAGIC FROM JOEL: Joel Embiid shot 0-for-5 from 3 but 12-for-23 overall from the field for 52 percent. He’s only the second player in NBA history to shoot over 50 percent from the field and score 33 points in a game where he took at least five 3’s and didn’t make any of them. In 2017, Kyrie Irving was 0-for-7 in the Cavs’ loss to the Golden State Warriors but shot 16-for-29 overall (55 percent). Before this series, only 12 Sixers had ever shot 0-for-5 in a playoff game. In this series, three 76ers have done it a total of four times – Kelly Oubre in Game 1, V.J. Edgecombe in Games 1 and 3 and Embiid in Game 5. 

76ERS OWN TD GARDEN: After beating the Celtics 111-97 in Game 2 last Tuesday and again in Game 5 Tuesday night, the 76ers have won back-to-back games in a series in Boston for the first time in 58 years. In 1968, they beat the Celtics 115-106 in Game 2 of their Eastern Division Finals series at Boston Garden and four days later won 110-105 in Game 4. They wound up losing that series in seven games. Last time the 76ers won any two games in a row in Boston was in 1980 and 1981. They won Game 5 of their 1980 Eastern Conference Finals series 105-94 and a year later won Game 1 of their 1981 Eastern Conference Finals series 105-104.  They won the 1980 series and lost the 1981 series.

HOW ABOUT THAT 4^TH QUARTER? In the fourth quarter, the Celtics shot 3-for-22 from the field for 14 percent and 1-for-14 from 2-point range for 7 percent. They had 29 possessions and made three baskets. In the fourth quarter alone, Neemias Queta was minus-16, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White were both minus-14 and Jayson Tatum was minus-9. Tatum, Brown, White and Queta shot a combined 1-for-15 in the fourth quarter. For the 76ers, V.G. Edgecombe, Tyrese Maxey, Quentin Grimes and Paul George were all plus-16 an Embiid was plus-16. The 76ers shot 9-for-17 in the fourth quarter for 53 percent. And how about this: In the fourth quarter alone, Maxey and Edgecombe – two guards – combined for nine rebounds, five for Maxey, four for Edgecombe. Maxey and Embiid each had as many baskets in the fourth quarter as the Celtics.

HE’S ALMOST 36: George, who turns 36 on Thursday, had 16 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals, becoming the 5^th-oldest player in NBA history to reach those benchmarks in a playoff game. The only older players with 16, 9, 7 and 2 are LeBron James, Kareem Jabbar, Steph Curry and Scottie Pippen.

WHERE DID THIS COME FROM? Andre Drummond made his only 3-point attempt, and he’s now 4-for-6 from 3 in the series. That’s more 3’s than he had in five regular seasons from 2021 through 2025 combined (three). 

GRIMES FROM ARDMORE! Grimes made four 3’s in just 24 minutes, the 2^nd most 3-pointers in franchise history by a player in 24 or fewer minutes. Buddy Hield made six against the Knicks in 2024. Grimes’ four 3’s is also 3^rd-most in 76ers history by a player off the bench. In addition to Hield in 2024, DeAndre Melton made five off the bench in Boston in 2023.