Observations after Sixers suffer blowout Game 4 loss to Celtics in Embiid's return

Joel Embiid’s presence alone did not pull the Sixers even in their first-round playoff series with the Celtics.

The Sixers suffered a blowout Game 4 loss Sunday night in Embiid’s first action since undergoing an appendectomy on April 9. They fell to a 128-96 defeat at Xfinity Mobile Arena and now trail 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Embiid had 26 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in 34 minutes.

Tyrese Maxey posted 22 points and six assists. Paul George scored 16 points.

Payton Pritchard torched the Sixers, scoring a playoff career-high 32 points. Jayson Tatum had 30 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds. Jaylen Brown added 20 points and seven rebounds.

Game 5 will be Tuesday night in Boston. Here are observations on the Sixers’ 32-point Game 4 loss:

Embiid not a million miles from his norm  

Embiid drew two quick fouls on Neemias Queta. The Boston big man was whistled for his second personal on a swift Embiid drive from the right wing.

Embiid knocked down all four of his free throws off of Queta’s fouls. He also scored early on a fast-break dunk and a powerful post-up layup against Nikola Vucevic. Embiid didn’t look reluctant to invite contact, run the floor or do anything that’s normally part of his game. While he missed mid-range jumpers that he’s accustomed to hitting and showed other signs of rust here and there, he was relatively sharp out of the gates.

Until a VJ Edgecombe mid-range jumper with 5:24 left in the first quarter, no Sixer scored besides Embiid. Both sides had cold jump shooting starts. The Sixers and Celtics each missed their first four three-point tries.

Embiid subbed out and Andre Drummond replaced him with 5:11 to go in the first. However, Embiid was back in soon. He re-entered with 2:49 left after a subpar Drummond stint that included two fouls. 

Drummond exited early in the second quarter after appearing to hurt his right hip, but he was able to return in the third. 

Boston’s bench dominant in first half 

The Celtics made an unsurprising run in the night’s first Embiid-less minutes. Pritchard nailed two three-pointers. Drummond fouled Tatum on a shot beyond the arc.  

Pritchard had a massive first quarter, tallying 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting. In Game 3, the Celtics’ bench outscored the Sixers’ by 21 points. Boston had the first 27 second-unit points Sunday. 

Pritchard ended the quarter with an exclamation point, sinking a long-range, one-legged runner to put the Celtics up 34-18. 

Offensive rebounds remained another giant problem in the first quarter for the Sixers, who struggled to close out good defensive possessions and were caught ball watching on several occasions. The Celtics grabbed six offensive boards in the first quarter and the Sixers had zero.

The start of a new quarter didn’t snap the Sixers into a higher gear. Pritchard swished a three over Quentin Grimes and Sixers head coach Nick Nurse called timeout with his team trailing by 21 points. 

Maxey was quiet in the first half, scoring seven points on 2-for-3 shooting. He’s faced strong defense in this series from Derrick White, Jordan Walsh and the Celtics, but Maxey was too deferential to teammates at times in the first half. His backcourt mate dealt with early foul trouble and Edgecombe posted just two points over the first two quarters. 

As for the Celtics’ stars, Tatum and Brown combined to shoot 4 for 17 from the field in the first half and were defended effectively by Kelly Oubre Jr. and George. The Celtics still held an 18-point lead at halftime. 

Celtics leave no doubt  

Maxey canned a three to open the scoring in the third quarter.

The Celtics kept snuffing out any hints of a Sixers push, though. Edgecombe stole the ball and threw it ahead to Maxey, but White sprinted back and blocked his layup. Brown drained a fadeaway, and-one jumper on George. Tatum hit a three to extend Boston’s lead to 69-43. 

Embiid eventually settled into a nice shooting rhythm starting around the midpoint of the third quarter. He wound up going 9 for 21 from the floor and 1 for 6 from three-point territory.

Boston tossed up threes all night, including during a brief third-quarter stretch when the Sixers turned to zone defense. The Celtics attempted 23 more threes than the Sixers (53-30) and made 15 more (24-9).

The Sixers could never contain Pritchard, who did even more damage late in the third quarter. Edgecombe fouled him with 0.9 seconds left in the third and the 2024-25 Sixth Man of the Year made both his foul shots. Before Sunday, Pritchard had played in 72 career postseason games and his scoring high was 23 points.

The Sixers were a thoroughly deflated, defeated team in the fourth quarter. A Tatum four-point play stretched the Celtics’ advantage to 30 points.

That’s two blowout losses now for the Sixers in the series. They were great in Game 2 and close in Game 3, but there’s no question the Celtics have been the better, deeper squad and deserve to be up 3-1. As they did in Game 2, the Sixers will need a serious bounce-back performance to keep their season ticking.