3 biggest takeaways for Sixers following Game 5 win over Celtics
· Yahoo Sports
BOSTON -- The Philadelphia 76ers kept their season alive with an impressive performance as they knocked off the Boston Celtics on the road 113-97 to stave off elimination and force a Game 6 back in Philadelphia on Thursday. The Sixers used lockdown defense in the fourth quarter to hold off the Celtics and keep things moving in the right direction.
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The Sixers received 33 points, eight assists, and four rebounds from Joel Embiid while Tyrese Maxey had 25 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. Paul George had 16 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, Quentin Grimes had 18 points, and VJ Edgecombe had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Here are the three biggest takeaways from the win on the road:
Fourth quarter defense
The Sixers won this game due to their defensive pressure in the fourth. They held the No. 2 offensive team in the league to just 11 points and just 3-for-22 shooting. The Celtics missed their final 16 field goals of the night and that type of performance on the defensive end, coupled with a big Embiid night, allowed Philadelphia to keep its season alive. That is the type of effort it is going to take to win two more games in this series.
"Well, again, I think, we were able to really execute what we wanted to do defensively," said coach Nick Nurse. "Just weren't blowing assignments, and we were guarding the ball hard. I mean, they did take it in there deep a few times, but there wasn't a whole lot of straight line drives, or we got into lots of rotations, or any of those kind of things. So, I just think everybody did a really good job of kind of guarding their man and executing the schemes that we wanted executed."
Grimes gives a lift
Entering Tuesday’s elimination contest, Grimes had totaled only 27 points through the first four games of the series. In order for the Sixers to rally in this series, they will need Grimes to give them a big lift and just give some offense overall. The Celtics have held a big advantage in bench scoring in these series and will need to give Philadelphia this continued offensive ability to give a continued spark.
"The opportunity, you know what I mean?" Grimes said of his big night. "Nick has emphasized wanting to get up a lot of 3s. Teammates were finding me and I was able to knock down the shots."
George does it all
The Sixers received a big performance from George in this one. He knocked down four triples, was able to put the ball on the floor to make things happen for himself and his teammates, and was able to help on the glass while also being a factor on the defensive end of the floor. Philadelphia probably doesn’t win this game without his contributions on both ends and the Sixers need to lean on him much more as time goes on in this series. He is a guy who can still put up big numbers.
"Well, I just think he's a really good defender, and he's put tremendous effort in. I don't know. He’s just good, man. He's smart and he's quick and he's long and he's athletic and he's determined, and I think his offense still is growing, and confidence is still growing a little bit."
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: 3 biggest takeaways for Sixers following Game 5 win over Celtics