Massachusetts, May 4 (BNA): Joel Embiid made his return to the Philadelphia 76ers’ lineup for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Wednesday night, but the host Boston Celtics pulled off 25 points from Jaylen Brown and cruised to even the best-of-seven series with a 121- 87.
The second seed Celtics led by eight at halftime and took control of the game in the third quarter when they outscored the third seed 76, 35-16, to build a 92-65 lead into the fourth.
Malcolm Brogdon came off the bench to hurl 23 points for the Celtics, who won despite leading scorer Jason Tatum finishing the game with seven points in 19 minutes. Marcus Smart (15 points), Derrick White (15) and Grant Williams (12) scored double-double points for Boston, which hit 20-of-51 (39.2 percent) 3-point attempts, according to Reuters.
Embiid, who was named Tuesday’s NBA Most Valuable Player, injured a lateral collateral ligament on April 20 during Game 3 of Philadelphia’s first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets. He did not play in Game 4, when the 76ers completed a four-game sweep of the net. He also sat out Philadelphia’s 119-115 Game 1 victory over Boston on Monday.
Embiid finished Game 2 with 15 points and five blocks in 27 minutes. He won his second straight scoring title by averaging 33.1 points per game during the regular season.
Tobias Harris led Philadelphia with 16 points. James Harden, who scored 45 points in the first game, scored 12 in the second game. And 76 out of 30 (20 percent) were from behind the 3-point arc.
The Celtics led 28-22 after one quarter and increased their lead to 12 points – their largest lead in the first half – when Al Horford made it 50-38 3-pointer with 4:41 left in the second quarter. The 76ers missed 12 of 13 3-point attempts in the first half and trailed 57-49 in the third quarter.
Boston took off from there, leading as many as 36.
The series will continue with Game 3 in Philadelphia on Friday.
WWA